Reaching for the Stars
by Irish Pirate Queen
Summary: See Radiant Gardens 8 years prior to its destruction through eyes of those who loved it most. Ansem the Wise, His Apprentices, a young woman working along side Braig, and a little girl who is the daughter of the King. RP done by two friends, Read/Review!
1. Day 1

_**AN: 'Reaching for the Stars' is a story that focus's on our two OC's Zuga and Miya, beginning before Birth By Sleep. In our RP that is 8 years prior. Is this a major project? Nah... its just a fun thing SDL and I are doing. Im not going to give much of a plot to it... since it will cover ALL of the games and in between. There is going to be a huge array of characters and alot of the settings and characters are our own take on them.**_

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Just so you know... Italics are SDL's posts and regular is IPQ's posts

_**Also... please don't flame... lots of work has been put into both our characters so they aren't Mary Sue... we love them dearly and we want you guys to love them too.**_

_**WARNING:FOR THOSE WHO KNOW NOTHING OF KINGDOM HEARTS BIRTH BY SLEEP THIS RP MAY CONTAIN FORMS OF SPOILERS FOR YOU! SO DON'T BLAME US FOR A SURPRISE... YOUR WARNED!**_

_**Zuga (c) SandDragonLanayru  
Miya (c) IrishPirateQueen  
Kingdom Hearts (c) Square Enix & Disney**_

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_Mud squished under her heels as she followed her new master through the fog. His stooped posture allowed her to see over his head, and as far as she knew, they were completely lost. Though, he appeared to know where he was going. Zuga wondered of the elderly man was mentally ill. This land was alien to him, was it not? How could he know which way to go so easily? _

_She was half-tempted to ask him where they were going, but she knew better. Eventually his motives would be revealed. Besides, if he had wanted to tell her, he would have. Trailing her eyes back to her feet, she trudged obediently at his heels, feeling dejected and forgotten. The magic-wielding man in front of her hadn't said much to her yet; only his name, which was Xehanort. "Master" Xehanort is how everyone addressed him._

_He had come when the monsters attacked. With his powers, he dispelled them and saved her tribe from certain doom. Afterwards, he would come and go, observing their everyday life and culture and talked with the chieftain. Once he declared that this time he would not be returning, the tribe proposed he take back a gift of memory, in thanks for saving them. They all agreed to give up a tribe member to be a servant to his every whim. At that point, Zuga had known that it would've been her to go. She was the outcast of her lot._

_Not like she complained about it or anything. Her only regret was that she couldn't save her younger brother from drowning in the ever so deadly bogs. Murdered, she corrected. The tribe had brainwashed her into thinking he had drowned on his own accord. Femeir had been smart. Someone would've had to drug him to the Boglands kicking and screaming for him to have gotten anywhere near them._

_Looking up again, Zuga chewed on her lip, unease growing inside of her. Through the eye sockets of the skull-mask she bore of the mighty salamander Banshee, Zuga was able to see that the fog was beginning to thin out into a slight mist. Sulfuric gases made her nose wrinkle up in disgust, although she had grown up with the awful smell her whole life._

_Master Xehanort stopped, nearly making her crash into him. He looked back at her, saying in a deep tone, "We are going to Radiant Gardens. It is a world much different than here and you must learn to adjust to it." He stopped, as if waiting for a reply. Getting none, he continued, "I will teach you how to use magic. It will take a few months before you're any good at it, but I know that past your stoic mask, you're quite bright. I have faith that you'll pick up on the skill quickly."_

_He looked away and took a few steps forward, adding as he went, "By the way, you're not going to be a slave where we're going. You are an accomplice, nothing less."_

_She stopped for a second, peering at him curiously before catching up again. How could she be something more than a slave? She had no true potential or anything of worth; especially not anything to be dabbling with magic. If anything, the rule her tribe had hammered into her was to shut up and obey. Zuga glanced over her shoulder, barely able to see the tendril of smoke that marked her village. Never again would she see its skeletal homes or hunt with her pack. No more Banshees, no more angry alligator Mutellas and no more bogs. She wasn't able to tell if she was happy about that or not._

_A cough made her turn her head back to Master Xehanort. His hands were folded behind his back, still stooped in stature. Ready to be lectured about her delays, she bowed her head, preparing for a snippy comment. Nothing happened and she opened a light-blue eye to see what was going on._

_The elder man had waved his hand, and a blot of darkness appeared on the ground. Its shadowy form stretched out like murky water. It grew until it was a giant hole, sitting there in space. Zuga studied the magnificent sight with awe, amazed by the abilities the man had. It would never cease to boggle her mind about what this power could do. Was this one of the many powers she would learn?_

_"Dark Corridor," he muttered, starting to step into the veil of black. "Follow me. It will take us to our destination."_

_She instantly obeyed, her long strides picking up pace until she was inside the portal._

_As soon as she was in she wanted out. Inside, it was filled with swirling navy colors and it echoed with moans of the dead. Strange flashes of panic formed in her gut. Her eyes flew about wildly in alarm, emotions like fear and anger growing and flaring to life, boiling and gurgling until she felt nauseous. It rushed to her head and gave her a sudden, elaborate migraine. She clutched the forehead of the helm and groaned, stumbling in place. Master Xehanort's ivory gloved hand steadied her, and his voice assured, "It feeds on negative emotions. Don't let it get the best of you."_

_She nodded, tension growing inside of her. She kept her eyes skewed shut, following the sounds of her master's feet. It was a bit of time later before the weightless void around her returned to normal. Her sandals stepped onto something solid and the conflicting emotions inside of her settled into a small simmer, hissing angrily like that of a dying fire. Her breaths came out heavily in soft whooshes. Master Xehanort seemed to take no notice and stared about the room they had entered._

_Zuga did the same, her mind taking in the variety of color that appeared as soon as she was able to think straight again. Bright purples and subtle grays lined the interior, and they seemed to have appeared in a type of hall. Bright orange plants sat in a vase on top of a shelf. Reflections people hung on the walls. Zuga waited for them to move, but they didn't even blink or breathe. She fought down her curiosity and stared ahead intently._

_The mage lifted his bent head slightly and called out, "Braig, I'm back. Get over here."_

_There was a rustle from somewhere in the building, and before long, a person walked from around the corner, his arms thrown open in welcome. "Master! There you are! Where have you been for so long?"_

_Zuga tipped her head down to avoid eye contact, watching the raven-haired man approach out of the corner of her tapered gaze. He wore attire similar to that of his master, but with no trailing cloak. A scarlet piece of fabric was wrapped around his neck and his eyes shown to be a deep shade of amber. The barbarian mentally recited his name so she could not forget it and have to ask for it later. The less she talked the better._

Radiant Gardens, a world full of glorious gardens, plentiful forests, shimmering streams, quaint villages and kindly inhabitance. The majority of world of Radiant Garden was laid out as, well- one big garden. It was designed as a huge maze. Hedges served as walls. Road sides and barriers of irregular shapes lined the pedestrian walkways. Multi colored stones paved the roads and paths through the garden maze. A multitude of colorful plants decorated the garden, masses of trees were sprinkled everywhere, creating shade and shelters_._

Radiant Gardens wasn't just one big maze though. It was spread out among many miles. Each maze was a town or village, the buildings built in cul-de-sacs of the mazes, and they fit together like a painting. The season's hardly changed at all.

The biggest maze was the maze of the Royal Estate. It could fit ten of the regular sized villages inside its huge pruned hedge walls. At the heart of the city was a grand castle, built in stones of a hue that changed color depending on how the sun would hit them. Around the castle was iron wrought fencing and four, large gates at each compass point.

The world was quite a sight to behold in of its own beauty, but such a magnificent garden does not keep itself. The inhabitants of Radiant Gardens were a calm, quiet folk, never attempting to go against the flow and do something out of the ordinary. The people were content with the simplistic, calm life they had been born into. All work circled around the garden: from trimming, planting, watering, beekeeping, and other conservation jobs to keep their lovely town's beautiful gardens clean and tidy.

There were more than a few among the whole world that weren't satisfied with just that, and perhaps as time would go on their paths would cross. But the ebb and flow of the river that passed through the Garden flows slow and steady, as does time and only time will reveal the fate of this world and its people.

One of these unique individuals had recently made the change in his young adult life from moving away from his quaint little hometown garden, to the Royal Estate. The young man was not surprised, nor daunted by the change in atmosphere. In fact, he seemed to flourish like a plant placed into a bigger pot, removed from its much too small pot from before.

Braig stretched out leisurely on a couch in his study, a newspaper in his hands and relaxed expression on his face. "Nothing better than finishing an acceptable days work and reading the newspaper at four o'clock." the raven haired man sighed.

Deep amber eyes looked intently from word to word as Braig read just about every part of the newspaper. The man had a desire to know every bit of news that was taking place in the town- no- city he now lived in. He was just about to kick his boots off and loosen the red kerchief around his neck and relax into his comfortable couch even more when a voice he hadn't heard for a long time echoed throughout his home.

"Braig, I'm back. Get over here."

'Ha! So the old man is back eh?' he bemused to himself as he stood up, set his paper down and walked out of the study.

He easily located his Master, and walked out into the hallway, arms raised in welcome "Master! There you are! Where have you been for so long? Since you've been gone I did as you requested, as you can tell. I found a suitable abode here in the Royal Estate. I did well, no?" Braig said with respectful nod of his head, a pleased expression on his sharp features.

_"I only hope it's functional for our purposes," Master Xehanort muttered, eying the surroundings critically with a bright gold gaze. "-And big enough for three."_

_He watched his apprentice stare at him dumbly; completely clueless to the events he had endured back in the swamps. Moving aside a few steps, he revealed the barbarian behind him, saying the whole while, "I was in a swamp, experimenting. While I was there I found myself a souvenir." He glanced back at the woman behind him, her gaze hidden in the shadow of her fossil helm. She stood rigid, more than likely uncomfortable in such a strange place. "We need all the help we can get."_

_"…You brought back a dinosaur?" Braig said simply and in all seriousness, quirking up a brow._

_ Master Xehanort fought down a smirk. It was appropriate to call her such, as almost every piece of her attire had some sort of monstrous bone attached to it all the way down to the spinal scabbard on her back. He corrected, "A warrior. She's more domesticated than she appears, I assure. But," he sighed, "not enough to meet civilized standards, I'm afraid." Waving his hand around he ordered, "Your job now is to help do just that. Civilize her, show her how to live here until she is completely presentable. At the same time, she will learn culture and magic from me. You can do that, right?"_

_A doubtful look passed over the younger man and he craned his neck back to get a better look at the savage. " I suppose… Can the poor thing even talk?"_

_"I hope so."_

_ "Hope!" Braig blurted. "You mean you don't know?"_

_He shook his head, rubbing at his silver-framed chin. "She hasn't said a word the whole way here." Master Xehanort turned around to face the tall woman. "Perhaps a simple nod will answer our question? Do you have a voice?"_

_Her head ducked so subtly and quickly it was hard to catch. Her feet shuffled timidly, fingers linking behind her back. He didn't miss his apprentice stiffening, ready for her to pull out some sort of archaic weapon to hit him over the head with._

_Chuckling, the mage scolded lightly, "Don't be so hasty, Braig. She wouldn't snap at a fly, as far as I know."_

_"Yeah, as far as you know," the other growled. "Can't be too careful… I don't need the Swamp Monster bashing my new house down after I just bought it!"_

_"Now, she wouldn't do that," Master Xehanort clucked. "She's as tame as a lamb." Grinning at his new catch with assurance, he added to her, "Isn't that right?"_

_ Another quick dip of her head agreed with him._

_Braig still didn't look convinced. He gave the barbarian a withering stare, waiting for her to wilt under it. She stood tall, mouth pursed into a grim line. "So does the Swamp Monster have a name or what?"_

_The elder man replied, "Her people called her 'Zuga'. Whether that is her true name or not, she has yet to tell of."_

_"Why don't you ask?"_

_Master Xehanort glared at the young man. "Manners, Braig, manners. Don't pressure a creature into submission, or it will bite the hand that feeds it. When she is ready to talk, she will do such and then you can ask all the questions you want. Until then, she will live like us, dine with us, and participate in our agenda. Is that clear?"_

Braig gave a unsure sigh through his teeth, his mouth turned into a perplexed frown, amber eyes looking from Master Xehanort to the 'woman' beside him. For some reason he couldn't picture a woman beneath all of those dinosaur bones. It was hard to believe, then to go further and believe that this person could actually learn to be civilized, or even put on the facade of being civilized for that matter.

The man was full of doubt, and a bit of uneasy with this whole idea of the Swamp Monster being a useful ally. All he could see were problems and Braig wasn't a man who wanted to encounter many problems. But, if his master felt that she would be useful who was he to go against a man like Master Xehanort? On more than one occasion the old man had proven his intelligence and common sense to be good and solid. He had no reason to doubt the elder man, so he wasn't going to do so now.

With a nod of his head he replied respectfully "Of course it is, Master. I merely was concerned in what way to approach such a... hmmm... delicate ...state of individual-being for our new comrade." he said searching for the right words which it was unlikely he had accomplished such.

Master Xehanort gave him a stern look and Braig immediately felt uncomfortable and tried to think of a change of subject. "Err... Master, you said you hoped my new home would fit three... well I assure you that it could fit six fairly comfortably. Perhaps you would like to see it for yourself? Choose your own quarters and our friend, Zuga, may do the same. I moved in only a few days ago so there are a few things out of place and a lot of things need to be acquired. I didn't bring much when I moved, so this place is a bit... err... bare." he said with an indifferent shrug, putting his attention to Master Xehanort and for the time being ignoring the woman.

_The hunched-man nodded in approval. "Good, this is good... Zuga-" her head snapped away from the pictures on the wall instantly, "-behind these doors are rooms. Feel free to explore and pick whichever one you want to sleep in, but first," the old man let a twisted grin settle on his face as he examined his new accomplice's mud-caked feet, "before you do anything, get cleaned up. I'm sure Braig doesn't want to spend his days cleaning up dirt off his new floors." His gaze traveled over to his apprentice who had agreement laced into every bit of his features  
_

_She stared blankly at him for a few moments, Master Xehanort able to barely make out her pale eyes blinking. Her head tilted slightly and she tapped her helmet with a finger questioningly. _

_"Ah, yes, that is a problem, now isn't it?" Master Xehanort said. He looked at his right-hand man and ordered, "Braig, why don't you go find our guest some… appropriate outfits. I will be going to rest, for I am tired. That means you're in charge… Good luck." His voice was not assuring and his golden eyes were set into sympathy. _

_Zuga couldn't help a smirk passing over her stoic face. She didn't intend to give this strange man, Braig, hell, but something told her that possibly involuntarily she'd cause him some sort of trouble. Besides, she wasn't going to take kindly to becoming "civilized," that much she could already tell._

_A tap to her side nearly made her jump and yelp, but she refrained to only gasp. Turning her head, she saw Xehanort looking up at her. "While I'm at it, you'll have to get rid of the bones. At least, the scabbard and helmet need to go, because it's just not normal here for people to be walking around clad head to toe in the skins of other animals. If anything it could be offensive, even." When he saw her eyes widen he added, "I know that they're a big part of your culture; currency as well and that your skull-mask is a sign of acceptance, which must be dear to you, but you know how it goes." He nodded solemnly, "It has to be like this."_

_A small sigh slid through her, and she looked down in compliance. The old man brushed past Braig, clapping his shoulder along the way and saying once more, "Good luck," before turning around the corner._

_Her icy-blue eyes swerved from the corner to Braig. He didn't seem to know what to do and to prevent him from feeling as awkward as she was, she reached up and unhooked the jaw joints on her mask and slid the bottom row of teeth onto her collar while flipping the top half over her shoulders. The leather-hide hood fell off of her hair, letting its entire volume cascade over her shoulders._

_Giving him a quick nod of what seemed to be acceptance; she turned towards the nearest door and looked at it from all angles strangely. After a quick analysis and having pushed its surface with a hand, she reverted to the knob and played with it until she realized what to do and turned it, making it open. Zuga took a few shocked steps backwards, staring at the opening with owlish eyes._

Braig chuckled quietly and shook his head, taking a step forward past her and through the door. Her display of confusion and bewilderment solidified his suspicions that she knew absolutely nothing about his way of living. It was going to be a long day...

'You weren't kidding when you wished me luck Master... I'm going to need quite a bit of it... and patience.' he thought to himself. The desire to sigh heavily was strong, but he refrained. He wasn't a rude man, even to someone as clueless as this woman.

Braig turned around and faced her, taking in her appearance a bit more in depth this time. It was true, her feet and near halfway up her shins was caked in mud. Her clothes were made of a rough fabric and she was absolutely, predominantly covered in various bones. But he was more taken by surprise, by not her rough appearance, but how gentle and delicate her features were.

Now that her mask, or helmet, was gone he could clearly see her face. Though it was covered with a few smudges of dirt, it was probably the cleanest part of her.

Her eyes were some of the palest blue he'd ever seen, and they were a bit distracting along with her extensive amount of brown hair. He had to admit, she wasn't hard on the eyes.

Braig soon realized he was starring and cleared his throat to break the silence. "Um... if you would like I have no problem explaining anything to you that you might find curious, confusing or interesting. I understand that you probably don't feel like talking as of right now, but pointing or indicating with your hands is just fine, I'll try to understand and explain."

He paused for a bit, waiting for her to respond in some way or just to absorb what he just said and then he continued. "Also... don't worry about the mud, it's just fine. And I'm Braig just so you know."

The man had a perplexed look on his face, attempting to figure out how to interact with this woman was intimidating. He'd rather face a tough competitor in an archery tournament than face this new and awkward responsibility.

_She held her passive stance, the only visible movement being that of her head, which she twisted about to observe the area. Her gaze didn't waver away from him for a bit of time, brow lifting slightly in understanding. The room itself drew her hard eyes away from Braig eventually, causing them to soften up. Zuga's darting eyes bounced about, taking data in swiftly, creating basic estimations and assumptions about the function of things within the room. Soon enough though, her curiosity got the better of her and she couldn't help but move about, examining things over and prodding objects gently with pale hands._

_For the most part, she tried to ignore Braig's stare as he followed her about with it, possibly making sure she didn't break anything or something. Mentally promising herself not to, she continued to go back and forth, pulling open doors that led to smaller storage spaces and sliding open dresser drawers. Her attention suddenly caught onto the mirror resting on top of a finely carved vanity. The reflection of her failed to spook her, but she did tap its metallic surface experimentally with her nails to see if it would ripple like water. When it produced nothing but a clear note, she couldn't stop her grin from spreading upon her face._

_It faded suddenly as her next object of obsession met her: the window. She drew a curtain back and looked outside, amazed suddenly by the height at which she was at compared to that of the people below. It was like being a bird in the highest bough of a tree!_

_Outside there were people, women as well, to her astonishment, bustling about with bags in their arms and younglings at their sides. A strange contraption, gurgling the purest-blue water she had ever seen, sat in the middle of the concentration of buildings. Exotic flowers paved either side of it, and she saw two children eating a quaint lunch upon a bench that leaned between the two sights. It was beautiful, and she momentarily thought back to her swamp-home for the first time, it's views not even in the same league. A burning sensation formed in her gut from the memory and she bit her lip, backing away and letting the curtain fall out of her greedy hands._

_Zuga let out a heavy sigh of wistfulness, allowing her expressionless face return as she turned back to Braig, who looked fairly entertained by her mute inquisitiveness. She had many questions she felt she needed to have answered, but did not make a move to voice them. She wasn't quite ready to let these men know what and who they were dealing with. She was a rebel, and had a notorious habit of breaking the rules. The corners of her mouth twitched to that as her eyes became quite smug, posture stiff, as usual. Her intimidating stance caused Braig to glance away, so she snorted and tossed her head, though her slight smirk remained. Fingering the small strand of beads embedded in her chestnut hair, she took one more sweeping gaze around the room before sinking onto the edge of what she assumed was what this world called a "bed," stretching out her cramped legs._

_It made her notice her grimy, swamp muck-covered feet. She huffed slightly, reaching out and gripping a film of mud on the bottom of her toes. It cracked, making her wince as exposed air hit her soles. Soon, she was able to slide off a hidden sandal, its entirety covered in stiff dirt. She gave Braig a pointed look, half-tempted to chuck the article of clothing at him to see how fast his reflexes were. Quickly tossing the idea, deeming it "uncivilized," she opted to only dangle it in her hand, clearing her throat for even more clarification. First impressions were everything, so her chieftain had told her once, and starting off the day by throwing a shoe at him didn't seem like the best way to go about making herself amused. _

_Besides, like she knew where these strange inhabitants kept their stuff, never the less cleaned it. Something told her though, intuition maybe, that most of her swamp clothes would most likely be burned or tossed out, something or another so long as they were gone._

_'If I can at least keep the bones, I don't care what they destroy.' It took every ounce of her resistance to not make a sour look towards the thought, for as Master Xehanort had said minutes prior, these bones were a very important symbol to her. It was now her only reminder that what had occurred back in her homelands had indeed been real, besides the memories themselves. Absentmindedly, her other hand came up to grip the wishbone necklace around her neck, stroking its polished ivory surface with a thumb. For only a mere moment her eyes clouded, but right after they lifted again to Braig, the murkiness completely gone as if it was never there to begin with._

Braig watched her curiously, as if he was the one that was out of place and not the barbarian woman. She was an odd thing for sure. He couldn't help but chuckle as he watched her inspect the mirror and yet again he was surprised by the small grin that spread across her face.

It wasn't a moment of bliss, nor of happiness, he didn't think that at all... but she seemed pleased or satisfied with her deduction of the object. But her attention didn't stay on the mirror long, and Braig leaned against the wall leisurely crossing his arms over his chest and watched her intently.

Her attention was drawn to the window, and she drew the curtain back and looked out. He didn't see her facial expressions, but by her posture he could tell she was a bit startled by whatever it was she saw outside.

'Hmmm... ' he drawled mentally, wistfully thinking about his newspaper on his comfy couch in the study.

Zuga turned from the window, and he noted that though she was choosing to remain mute, there was an in-depth thought going on inside her mind: all by the gleam in her eyes. Those blue eyes didn't look void, lost, or clueless, but smart, calculating and intelligent.

Such was confirmed with a change of posture that seemed rather random that it made him uncomfortable. The look in her eyes gleamed with a smugness, mouth shifting upwards and her stance becoming seemingly unmovable.

'That was odd.' he thought, looking away towards the door, hoping to find some reason for escape from this awkward setting.

Braig heard the bed in the room creak and he turned his attention back to the woman. She was stretching her legs out and inspecting the bed. It amused him when she caught site of her mud caked feet, looking at them more surprised by them than anything else she'd seen so far.

It was far more amusing watching her crumble away the mud and peel the sandal off. He was a bit taken off guard when she held it out towards him, a pointed look on her face.

"Yes, that is a shoe; very good, Zuga." Braig said with a smirk on his face.

She scowled at him and went about taking the other sandal off. He sighed and shook his head. The crumbled mud was making a mess on the floor. The man sighed and kicked a large oval basket over to her feet.

"Put your shoes in there, and anything else you want washed. See that chest over there?" he said pointing to a flat topped chest in the left hand corner of the room. "Put what you want to keep on top of it."

Braig then walked past her and opened a door, inside it was the bathroom with a toilet, bathtub with a shower rod, a sink and linen closest. "In here is the bathroom, like this room it is yours only. You have full privacy... as long as you keep that door closed," he said indicating to the door that led to the bed room. "Follow me," he said going into the bathroom. "I'll show you how to use this room."

_Dropping her sandals inside the basket, she followed him, still slightly sour of his general, obvious statements to her about the said discarded item. She was not stupid, nor was she that simple-minded. Choosing to keep her mouth shut, for she was not about to start bickering with her new… new…_

_She stared at his back as he began manipulating an object from within the room as she hovered just outside of it. What was he to her anyway? In ranking standards, he was obviously higher than her, but he didn't seem to treat her any lower than him thus far._

_'Then again it could be one of these people's strange customs,' she thought to herself matter-of-factly. 'I have still much to learn…'_

_He stepped back, and watched as the contraption started spewing rain. Zuga swiftly latched her attention to it, mouth parting slightly in awe. First houses in trees and now their own rain! What was next? People who could fly?_

_"This is a shower," Braig said slowly, clearly getting that this was a new object to her. "It's where we take baths and stuff." He hunched over it again, avoiding the sprinkling water and turned a few knobs. "You can mess with it until the temperature is how you want it and all, just make sure it doesn't overflow or anything…" When he looked behind him, she wasn't looking his way. Rather, she was staring at the closet, messing with the handle._

_'Ugh, I hate these things… What's wrong with tarps in the first place anyway? They get the job done without being complicated!' It took only a moment later for her to pull it open. 'Ah, just as I suspected-'_

_"And that is where we keep the towels," the dark-haired man said in response to her action._

_Zuga gave him a blank glance before letting her inquisitive hands grab one, surprised by its velvety feel. She rubbed the material between her fingers, slightly intrigued. It was a much more pleasant feel than that of her rugged clothes, made from a thin material of animal hides. She had sown it herself, and it was very durable, though it had its tears here and there from snagging bark and scratching beasts._

_Snorting to herself, she gently placed the towel back inside its space, fingers tracing inside her palm, already missing the sweet touch._

_Braig gave her a strange look, probably not understanding how dear she found such pleasantries. Of course he wouldn't. It's a female thing, she thought, mentally shrugging it off. Quality cloth was precious to a girl._

Braig went over to her and reached into the cabinet, taking out a towel and handing it to her. "You're going to need that after you get out of the shower... we use them to dry off." He said walking toward the door.

Zuga looked at him with a hard to read expression, he grinned, noticing how her hands caressed the material. It was probably safe to assume that the clothes she had worn for her life up till now were rough, hard, and uncomfortable. 'That's understandable, she likes how it feels... typical woman.' he thought amused.

It was true he thought she was a barbarian, and she was... but even in the past thirty minutes he'd come to realize she was pretty normal for a young woman. It wouldn't be too difficult to help her adjust.

"Well, I'm going to go... I wasn't expecting Master Xehanort bring you back with him, and so... yeah. You need some clothes...No need to leave you in your dirty ones."

_He ducked out after that, not bothering to say anything more, nor check if he had overlooked something that needed explaining. She looked down at the towel he handed her, fingertips trying to feel the individual strands holding it together. But so expertly woven was this piece of cloth that she couldn't feel even that. Feeling very inferior in skill compared to whomever seamstress had woven such a fine work, she frowned, setting the towel on the counter next to a large bowl-like object similar to that thing called a shower._

_Deciding to investigate that later, she walked back into 'her' room. It was so odd calling it that, for she hadn't even been in it for more than an hour, if even that. The box Braig had directed her to be where she was to put her precious items. She knelt in front of it and fumbled with the latch on it, cursing under her breath as it soon became obvious that these objects with handles were going to be the end of her in this world. It took a few tries and much tinkering before she could undo it and heft it open. It was completely empty and a bit dusty even. Not particularly caring, she went about sliding off her hooded helm over her head and gingerly set it off to the side, careful not to ruin the polished surface of the intimidating skull upon it. From there, she slid off the knuckle-bone armbands and the femur ringed shin guard upon her right calf. Lastly was the rib-cage made scabbard, which she unhooked from her shirt. Looking into the hollow if it, she pulled out a pair of daggers and set them beside her legs. Then, as she had with the other things, placed the ivory piece on top of everything and shoved the lid on the box back down._

_Sighing heavily, Zuga felt as if she just shut away a portion of her soul. Those pieces of dead animals all held a personal meaning to her. She couldn't imagine being without them. Swallowing a lump in her throat, she stood up with the daggers in hand._

_They were in good condition, no niches or anything yet. If anything she prided herself in keeping such good care of them. Pacing over to the bed, Zuga propped up a cushion and slid the weapons under it. She wasn't about to let her guard down just because these people were new. If anything, their hospitality meant nothing at the moment. What did matter to her was finding out whom and who could not be trusted._

_'And so far, none of them meet those standards,' Zuga mused to herself. Yeah, they were kind... so far. Who knew how things would turn out once she actually started living here? For all she knew, they both could be the same as the males back home. Dominating, ungracious, idiotic morons... Snorting to herself, she went back into the raining-room and stared at the shower with a frustrated frown as she stared at those knobs. Whenever any type of handle popped up, it always seemed to give her trouble. Groping the wall behind her, she found the door and pulled it closed, following instructions as diligently as possible. Next were those stupid knobs._

_Recalling how Braig had done it, she leaned over and began twisting the stupid devices, watching as the water began pouring out of the lower spout. Looking pleased, she then pulled up a switch, causing the rain to come out right onto her head. She jerked back, sputtering. And here she had thought she had been doing so well too... Glaring up at the contraption irritably, she blew a strand of wet hair out of her face, reaching up to yank the beads and feathers out of her hair and placed them on the towel from before._

_Pulling her basically worthless shirt over her head and doing nearly the same to her skirt, she threw them in the corner before gingerly stepping into the basin and letting the water crash down on her. At first it was boiling hot, and she scrunched up in disdain before getting used to it and sitting down, scrubbing the clinging mud off her legs._

_For the most part, she found it the same as bathing down in the river, except not as much room, and you didn't have to worry about snapping turtles clipping your toes off. They even had a type of object that made them smell better like back home, but this was a block and the stuff back at the swamps was a liquid made of grounded flowers and herbs. It wasn't hard to figure things out once used to it, and it even felt nice not to have dirt between her toes constantly. Even after she was done thoroughly scrubbing herself clean, she sat there, slumped up against the walls of the tub, content with just having the rain pelt her ashy skin. _

_Soon, though, Zuga found her hands becoming wrinkly, making her scowl and turn the shower off. A shiver passed through her as the colder air around took its toll. Scrambling for that ever-so-nice towel, she hugged it to her body, shoving her nose into it with a satisfied sigh. 'Maybe it's not so bad... Not having to worry about the muck and having to constantly fight your way through each day. A girl could get used to it. Heh, these people live cushier lives than the children back home.'_

_Smiling, she wrapped the towel tightly around herself. Her eyes became grave as she stared down at her scraps of clothes from earlier, now realizing how filthy she had been moments ago. Feeling a vile taste on her tongue, she scooped up her beads and feathers, using her other oh, so curious hand to twist the one bowl's knobs. A similar action happened as to that of the shower._

_Note to self: knobs create water, Zuga stated in her head as she swerved around and cracked the door open slightly._

_Items had been placed on the bed while she had been leisurely taking her sweet, old time. The hall-door was shut, so she shuffled out, shaking her plastered bangs out of her face. Ignoring her newest items for now, she paced over to the vanity and set down her hair stuff, tapping the reflecting slab on her way back to make sure it still did not ripple. She'd have to ask about how they froze water so solidly to form that pure substance.  
_

_On her bed was a pile of orange and scarlet clothes. She picked up each piece experimentally, holding it up to her chest and flaring out its fabric with a sweeping motion. It wasn't as soft as the towel, but it was nice either way. Better than the hides, at least._

_Struggling to get her new attire on, Zuga hissed as her arms got stuck trying to get the sleeveless shirt on. She shifted about until sliding through, hoping that it wouldn't be a reoccurring problem in the future. The skirt was much easier to figure out, as it was made of two layers, each needing to be put on separately. The base one was a shade of violet and the top part was a deep shade of red, which made her thoroughly confused, seeing that violet, was the color of noble-status people. She was not that. Neither was she deserving of scarlet either, for that was also for higher-ranks._

_Tying the skirt in place with a gold (yet another noble color) ribbon-like string, Zuga ran her fingers through her wet tresses. Her stomach was yowling with hunger, not having eaten anything since the night before; too distressed was she over leaving the swamps. Not like she expected where she was now. Besides, she was curious as to what these people had to eat on a daily basis. Her teeth were already gnawing down on an invisible piece of grub, happy with just pure imagination. _

_Getting up with a stiff moan, she walked into the raining-room and reached for the olive-green clothes in the corner and putting them in the same bin as her shoes. Shoving the bin towards the door, she followed after it, her gaze hardening as she locked in on the hall-door._

_'Won't get the best of me now!' she taunted at the doorknob, able to successfully turn it this time. Poking her head out, she looked down either side of the hall, not catching sight of Braig. Recalling where Master Xehanort had walked off to earlier, she decided her best bet would be to retrace those steps. She trotted quietly down the corridor, her bare, hunter feet making no noise as she crossed around the corner, which opened up into a large space. A fancy looking bench-thing with cushions on it had its back to her. She was able to see Braig sitting on it, a piece of parchment in his grip. _

_He didn't seem to have noticed her, so Zuga walked behind him until she was almost hovering over him. Still, he did not take heed of her presence. Smirking to his obliviousness, she cocked her head and let her expression become a bit more subtle before clearing her throat softly._

When Braig had returned from town he scaled the staircase up to Zuga's bedroom, knocked on the door and waited. After a few minutes there was no reply and upon listening more intently he heard the shower running. The sound of the shower running and no answer to his knocking Braig deemed it safe to enter the room.

He first poked his head around the door before opening it all the way and walking in. Going over to the bed he set down the bag he'd been carrying. He set out a scarlet sleeveless top, and a two layered scarlet and violet skirt, along with a pair of leather sandals.

Upon finishing his task he left the room, paper bag folded under his arm. Closing the door behind him Braig headed back for his study in progress, anticipating his comfortable couch and newspaper.

'Life and its little pleasures!' he thought happily, kicking his boots off (finally), and reclining full length on the couch. Picking up the newspaper and opening it up to where he left off and began reading.

Half an hour passed by way too fast in Braig's opinion when he heard the sound of footsteps walking through the hall. And they were attempting to be very silent, which then he only presumed it to be Zuga. The creaking floor boards gave her footsteps away.

'She's probably just exploring around the house, getting to know the place.' he thought to himself, turning the page of his newspaper.

Braig did not notice the new member of the team behind him until she cleared her throat, making him flinch a little. Sitting up, putting his paper down and turning to look at her, Braig acknowledged her, also taking in her new, clean appearance. He had to admit, he'd judged her size quite perfectly, and he couldn't help but pride himself in the fact that he had done a fanatically good job!

The swamp monster was gone. Only two people knew her true heritage and if she was seen out on the street many would think she was just a normal, young woman. Zuga looked quite nice and Master Xehanort would be pleased.

"Well, I see you were successful in your endeavor," he said, standing. "Is there something I can help you with Zuga, or are you just exploring the house?"

_Yet again, her teeth gnashed inside her mouth behind her pursed lips as his question stirred her appetite. Still, trying not to be a burden with coming out and just saying what was wanted, for she wasn't one to request anything from her higher-ups to disturb them, she settled with only looking around avidly for any physical clue to her stomach's desires. Seeing none, she sighed softly, the motion making her empty belly yowl in distress. _

_The hair on her neck rose from the volume of it and she shrunk down slightly in discomfiture. She hugged her sides whilst biting her lip, staring down at the floor as she felt her face flush with color._

_"Ah, that's the issue," Braig stated with a grin. He twisted around and started heading for the hall. Zuga swiveled her head sheepishly, finally striding after him when she saw him leave the room. He led her to the other end of the house where they traveled down a ladder-like object connected to the floor, which Zuga had stared at for a few moments before descending slowly, and stepped into a shiny space, counters a metallic, granite color. Zuga clenched her hands to refrain from touching anything important, since this room was obviously not "hers."_

_To further distract herself from getting her attention swapped by an object within the room, she tentatively scooted herself on top of one of the flat counters, bracing herself by gripping the edge with her fingers. Legs swinging out in a bored manner, she stared up at the ceiling seemingly uninterested, though she was curious as to what Braig was doing to fix her stomach problem. From things so far, she was half shocked that their hunger didn't just disappear when they wanted it to!_

_'Bet they don't even know what hunting is,' she snorted to herself, sparing a glance at the raven-haired man. Her trailing eyes quickly reverted back to the ceiling. Whatever it was he was doing, she hoped she could at least sink and tear her teeth into something without being scolded, because seriously, she hadn't eaten for nearly a day._

_'Feels like it's been a moon,' actually, Zuga mused. A vibrating rumble came from within her stomach once more, causing the woman to knead at it impatiently with her fingers. _

Braig moved around the kitchen, pulling a plain white plate out of a cupboard, going to the refrigerator and taking out cheese, meat, and some bread and setting them all on the counter not far from where Zuga sat.

_He went about cutting the bread, cheese and meat, placing the meat and cheese on the two slices of bread and thus creating a sandwich._

_'I really need to go grocery shopping now that Master Xehanort and our friend from the swamp are here. Humph... I need to get a job ASAP... I'm running low on munny.' he thought to himself tiredly. The raven haired man wondered what he could do in this large city, surely there were plenty of opportunities. 'I should probably bring that up with Master Xehanort... he's got to have a reason for me moving here to the Royal Estate...'_

_Braig finished the sandwich and pulled a cup out of the same cupboard he'd gotten the plate out of, going to the sink and filling it with water. Grabbing the plate he went over to Zuga and set them beside her."There ya go Zuga. Eat up." he said with a grin before going about cleaning up his mess from making the food. _

_She stared at the objects with a curious gleam, reaching out and swiping the one that reeked of meat first. She turned it over nearly seven times, and picked at the bread. After inspecting it, she sunk her canines into it, not particularly liking the rough texture of the layered morsel. It scraped against her tongue and wasn't very warm and fleshy, but it was food none the less, and she ate it vigorously._

_Afterwards, she rubbed her tongue on the roof of her mouth, feeling that doughy stuff clinging to it. Without even thinking, really, she grabbed the cup (Finally, a familiar object!) and drank the ever so clear liquid inside, which reminded her of the water back home, just more… well, clean. _

_She wasn't satisfied, but it was enough to keep her hunger at bay and she didn't dare ask for anything more. Pushing herself off the counter, she began looking around, but never did she reach out to grab something. It wasn't as fascinating as her room, but the sight of new things made her commit them to memory to ask about later. _

_Turning around, she saw Braig waiting for her plague of curiousness to die down. Almost sheepishly, she stopped. She had so much to ask, but as she found out when she got here, the natives had a different dialect than her own and her very first orders from Master Xehanort had been to adjust and blend in. Talking would make her stand out, and even though she was in the hands of these two men, she wasn't about to get accustomed to speaking to them in her foreign tongue._

_'Gonna have to practice when I get back to my room…' she thought, inwardly sighing. _

_Her mulling hadn't lasted nearly ten seconds, and Braig said, "You don't have to follow me everywhere, Zuga. Feel free to go wherever, so long as you don't go outside."_

_Wherever, huh? She didn't know where she wanted to go. If anything, she just wanted to know why she was here and what her job was if it wasn't as a humble servant. Would Braig know? No, he had just found out about her nearly an hour ago, so there wouldn't be much knowledge to glean from him. Master Xehanort would know, but she didn't want to disturb him._

_Sighing, Zuga looked between the ladder-thing that led back to her room and the archway that went into the unknown. Might as well get this place mapped out… Bowing her head respectively to Braig, which he seemed to take with much puzzlement, she paced out, poking her head into the new rooms. Most of the objects she was completely clueless to, such as the strange reflections of people on the walls. No matter how long she stared, they did not move. It frustrated her, but she didn't voice her concern and moved into the next room, the whole of it stacked with those rectangular objects filled with parchment. At the far end she saw Master Xehanort's back to her, hovered over an open one. _

_"Yes, Zuga, you can come in," he rumbled in his raspy voice when she hovered just outside. How he sensed her, she didn't know. Shuffling in, her finger reached out to rub the spine of the stacks of parchment. The markings made little to no sense to her, and she ignored it, turning back to the mage. He was staring at her, seeming impressed._

_"I assume Braig got you fitted into those?"_

_She nodded. _

_He smirked and muttered, "Still mute I see. No matter." After a moment's pause he asked, "Are you faring well? Is everything accustomed to your liking?" _

_Yet again she nodded._

_"This is good," he chuckled. "…Tell me, Zuga, can you read?"_

_She started to nod, but stopped and stared at the stacks on the shelves and shook her head._

_He pursed his lips, but didn't ridicule her for it. Instead, he muttered, "When you find your voice, you're going to have to learn. Mostly everyone here is educated, unless some sort of disability enabled otherwise. And for what I'm planning you'll need to know how to read and write."_

Braig returned to his study in progress and reclined back into his couch, pulling his paper up off the floor and began to read it yet again. It was around 1 o'clock when he had finally been able to go back to it and it was near 3 o'clock when he finally put it down. Finished.

'Amazing... a full three hours without being interrupted.' he thought to himself as he sat up and slipping his boots on and standing up.

He walked out into the hallway and began making his way towards the direction Master Xehanort had gone when he'd gone off to rest. Braig was hoping he was in this direction, he didn't feel like searching the whole house to find the guy. The man needed to discuss a few things with his master.

As he approached one of the doors he heard the man's raspy old voice, which seemed to be calling out words, titles and descriptions of things to someone in the room. The only person he could be talking to was Zuga.

'He must be familiarizing the girl with some words. What fun,' he thought as he knocked on the ajar door.

There was a pause inside before "Come in, Braig" came fairly abruptly to his ears. Braig opened the door and walked in, giving a respectful bow of his head to his master and then to Zuga.

"Yes Braig... what is it?" the elderly man

"Well Master I was just about to head out to the market place, and take a look around the town. After all... now that I'm an official member of the society here I need to find a job, so I can contribute, no? As well as make a living. I figured I'd come and see if there was anything you would like to request, and if it was alright if I showed our dear friend, Zuga, around town. But that is all up to your digression and if she wants to."

_Zuga hadn't really been paying attention when Braig came in, nor did she catch what he said, for she was too busy looking at some text in the thing she now knew to be a "book" as Master Xehanort had told her. He had taught her a few letters, and even commented on how vowels in her homeland had a different sound than that of the people here. She was very tempted to compare herself but had no time to do such because it was then that she finally picked up on the conversation behind her._

_Turning her head over her shoulder she stared wide-eyed at Braig, giving him the general Are-You-Crazy look while quickly shaking her head "no." Master Xehanort saw and grinned, saying to Braig, though he was looking at her, "Hm, I think she disagrees. Then again, we don't want to rush her into this place too fast. Let's wait on that one, Braig."_

_She let out a breath of relief. Going outside into the unknown world around was a frightening idea, but it was not for that reason that she refused to leave the building under any circumstance. It was the fact that she feared what may happen since she wasn't familiar with any sort of customs the people here might have. If anything, she'd like to observe from afar first, or get some sort of history lesson. Not to mention if someone started to talk to her. What then? _

_She returned her attention to the book but kept her ear open for the words spoken next._

_"As for a job, it's a fine idea and I was going to propose it once we got everything together here. But, since you asked early, might as well tell you," Master Xehanort said with a sigh. His tone became serious as he explained promptly, "I made you move here because we're going to need the research facilities of the ruler. In order to gain control of it, I need you to infiltrate within its walls, are you catching my drift so far?"_

_"Yes sir."_

_"Now then, you're instructions are simple. Get a job within the castle. Gain the people's trust; make them see you in a trustworthy light. You'll be able to sway them easier that way. As for Zuga, she will accompany you here once I deem her ready. But you must make yourselves oblivious and inconspicuous."_

_So that was it. Infiltration. Was she to be a spy? What were they doing with a research place anyway? Zuga didn't know any of the answers, and it frustrated her that when she finally got her resolution to the biggest question she had so far, it only raised more questions! But she wouldn't object and she would follow orders like a good soldier does and go on with life as it was._

Braig nodded in understanding, before giving a respectful bow and walking out of the room. So his job was to gain the trust of Radiant Garden's ruler, eh? With having been raised in Radiant Gardens he knew the history of its ruler quite well. He was a man who had an empire passed down to him through being the heir to the royal bloodline. A man whom was reaching late 30's and had yet to really do much with his role except create inventions and other scientific experiments. Braig wondered what Master Xehanort was going to need with the resources of a scientist. But he wasn't going to question his Master's motives.

He gave a shrug as he walked out his front door, locking it behind him. There was no reason not to and it was just habit. The man doubted that either of the two inside were going to come out, nor did he think someone was going to try and go in, but Braig was just one of those kind of people.

As he walked down one of the many garden paths or roads he drifted into his own thoughts of how he was going to accomplish the task his Master wished for him to complete. Braig also pondered what uses Zuga could be to this plan as well.

_There were many unanswered questions inside him, especially after what Master Xehanort had just told him. How this related back to "the goal" was beyond him. Did they need a bigger base of operation? He supposed that was it, but if he was planning to take Radiant Garden's castle just for the three of them, for whatever purpose Xehanort had in mind, it was kind of ridiculous. The place was huge! Shouldn't he downsize his expectations a little?_

_And just the thought of how the barbarian girl could help was beyond him. Master Xehanort had mentioned magic, but with her being illiterate (and completely unwilling to talk, not to mention), it would take forever to teach her. For Braig himself, it had taken many, many years to master what he could now do with every ounce of concentration needed in the process._

_'I guess I shouldn't worry about it,' he thought to himself, trying to focus more on his destination. Master Xehanort had never erred before, so why should this be different? He just needed to relax and let the cards play out as they had been handed._

_The scenic views of the city never ceased to amaze him, he observed as he blinked out of his ponderous state. Braig figured everyone here had taken such a pleasantry for granted at one point. Braig generally didn't because after carrying out missions from his master, he was always so relieved to get back to the comforts of the gardens. Something about the place just made you nostalgic or something, he swore it._

_Heaving in a breath of fresh air, the man walked through the village square, making his way down to the Castle. He could glimpse it between buildings, and it truly was a magnificent sight to behold once you were able to see over the large stone walls that surrounded it. From the bottom of the path to the very entrance doors there were flowers and different types of exotic vegetation upon either side. The castle itself was of a great size, and harbored a whole load of scientific gizmos for the Ruler's tinkering._

_The man had a strange obsession with science, as seen when he presented new inventions to the people. Sometimes it was just plain, day-to-day house items to better convenience everything. The possibilities were endless when it came to that strange man._

_Braig turned the corner to find the gates towering just ahead. He hadn't really thought about how he was going to get in. He didn't even know if these people needed any extra hands around the place. But, Braig was not the man to remain worrisome, so he leisurely strolled up and pushed on the ebony metal, smirking as he found it completely unlocked. Of course it was. There was no crime here._

_

* * *

_

The leaves of the ancient trees brushed together creating a beautiful sound that floated throughout the village, some coming loose and flittering down to the garden floor. The evening breeze was falling upon the village, bringing the hint of the day's end with it. It carried the smells of the marketplace and the spring festival on its wings up to the castle, creating quite an everyday excitement for the few hands that worked inside its walls. The excitement that with the day's end came the end of the day's work and the ability to go and enjoy the festival lifted each person's spirit, from the ruler himself, down to the scullery maid.

If one thought the mazes and garden's outside the castle gates were wonderfully beautiful, then they would be blown away but the complexity and sheer magnificent beauty of those inside the gate surrounding the castle. The flowers were more exotic and numerous, and in an amazing variety of colors, shapes and sizes. The hedges were larger, fuller, and greener; the trees were the same. The castle garden was the crown jewel of everything that was Radiant Gardens.

And with complexity and size... came a great many of wonderful hiding places for the game of hide and see, quite a perplexing game, where one person is the seeker and must seek out one or more hiding individuals that had cleverly and wisely chosen their unique hiding spots.

Such was why the Ruler of Radiant Gardens was outside in the beautiful late afternoon weather, walking through the large garden at a less than relaxed pace.

The man was quite tall, built solidly in form, sure to have great strength of body, he wore black dress shoes and slacks with a white dress shirt, which he wore un-tucked, and unbuttoned at the wrists and collar. The man's skin was sun kissed, probably because of spending so much time out in the gardens doing the similar walk about he was doing now. He had chin length blonde hair, not slicked back, but nor was it untidy, and a mustache pronounced his features. He looked to be a gentle man, full of kindness and love, along with much curiosity and intelligence

The man's name was Ansem, Ruler and Protector of Radiant Gardens, Scientist and Father.

Ansem decided that after searching the circumference of the walkabout closest to the castle, that it was time to search further out into the maze. The maze wasn't a dangerous place to hide, the father in his mid-thirties wasn't worried about that, he was just anxious not having an eye on his young daughter at all times. But this was her favorite game, and she had begged him for days to play it with her, and he had promised. And now he knew why she liked it so much... she was probably the most expert leveled hide and seek player ever.

Shining amber brown eyes looked out of the thick, tall tulips in a flower bed right up against the castle's stone wall. A small purple haired head poked its head up above the purple, red, yellow and orange tulips and looked around the visible pathway beside it. A giggle escaped from the soft pink lips as the child saw the back of her seeker turn a corner leading out further into the castle garden. Now was the perfect opportunity for the child to follow behind the seeker and startle him.

A small child climbed out of the flower bed, brushing the dark black dirt of her small fair legs and spring grass green sundress. When the child was satisfied, she began to skip towards the garden gate, the gravel beneath her brown sandals grinding together making noise, but it stopped abruptly when the child stopped. Stopped and stared at the cute green frog in her path. Bending down the 6 year old poked her finger at it, and it hopped away. The child giggled and followed after the hoping frog toward the castle's only gate of entrance.

After a few minutes of this game the frog jumped into a nearby pansy bed and disappeared from site, the little girl sighing in frustration and kicking a piece of gravel with her foot. Now the little girl was on the other side of the castle, opposite the end of her father and she didn't seem much worried and proceeded to sit down by the pansy bed and look at the flowers.

Minutes passed and the girl turned her head after hearing a strange 'whooshing' sound, not five feet away a strange small black figure swayed back and forth. It's odd shape, color, appearance and movement were extremely unsettling to the child, but her eyes widened and glowed brightly in curiosity as she watched it.

The strange new figure and the child stared at each other, the child in curiosity... the weird figure swaying back and forth strangely. It jumped forward suddenly, only two steps away now, making the girl jump up in fright and scoot around it. Eyes no longer full of curiosity, but slight panic. It followed after her and the little girl began running a long peel of "EEEEEEEEEEEEE!" as she ran away from the thing which was following her.

_He hadn't even made it to the first set of steps that led to the castle when the piercing scream hit his ears. Braig jerked his head up, looking about with a furrowed brow. His almond eyes surveyed the area quickly, and he saw nothing out of place, though someone clearly sounded distressed. Curious and seeing his chance to gain some trust around the joint, Braig slunk off towards the direction of the scream, ducking under some branches and bushes to get to it. _

_What he saw made him stare dumbfounded. After following a second screech, he was able to swerve around a hedge bush to find a little girl, no older than around eight, running about in wild circles with a small Shadow Heartless jumping at her heels._

_Without thinking, he tucked his arm behind his back and opened his palm, letting a manifestation of magic summon his prized weapon. Pulling it out from behind, he didn't even need to pause to shoot a laser bolt from the lavender arrow gun and kill the Heartless. It exploded into dust, and the girl sat a yard or two away, cowering in fear. His gun vanished, and Braig stared at the place where his bolt struck with a faint frown._

_'Must've been a straggler or something and got lost in a Corridor,' he hypothesized to himself. Switching his gaze over to the child, he smiled and said lightheartedly, "Don't worry, it's not coming back; I promise." Furrowing his brow, he added, "Are you lost? Who are you?"_

The little girl unfolded her arms from around her head, turning her face to look at the figure that had so bravely saved her from the strange creature. She looked from the face of the man, down to the patch of darker gravel were the creature had been and then back at the man. She stood up slowly, tugging on her lower lip, honey brown eyes still clouded with worried fright. But the girl didn't stay that way for long; soon the memory of that strange creature was all but gone from her mind, with her little mind focused on the man which had saved her.

Taking a few timid steps forward the child gave a small polite, though unsteady, curtsey.

"Hello, my name is Miya." the purple haired girl greeted, hands reaching up to adjust her hair ribbon which had become askew.

"I am very grateful that you made that thing go away, it was quite scary."

The little girl, Miya, tucked on hand behind her back and the other fiddled with the hem of her dress as she began to rock back and forth on her heels watching the man.

"Who are you? I have never seen you before." she said looking up at him with her eyes glowing brightly.

_"I'm Braig," he said simply, looking at the singed pavement where his laser had shot. "I came here to try and get a job and here I find a little kid being attacked by a monster. Not exactly what I was suspecting, but…" He looked up. "I suppose this isn't a daily thing, right?" _

_She shook her head and he smirked. His amber eyes traveled around, trying to figure out if the girl had anyone looking after her. Seeing no one around, he returned his attention to her and asked again, "Are you lost, Miya? Where are your parents?"_

Miya turned around in a circle, looking in each direction, a finger resting on her small chin thoughtfully as she tried to remember which way she had seen her papa disappeared in.

"Ah-ha!" She shouted triumphantly, and suddenly.

The child grabbed his hand and pulled him in the opposite direction. "No, I'm not lost... Follow me, Mister. I know were my papa is. I'll take you to him. He can help you get a job." she said with a gleeful voice.

The two walked around the castle pathway, and turned on to the blue triangular stone walkway that Miya had seen her father go down earlier. At every intersection, turn off or corner Miya would poke her head around each head, eyes narrowed in concentration as she was on her hunt. The child was silent as she led Braig through the garden maze.

After five minutes of searching, Miya poked her head around another corner and squealed in delight, let go of Braig's hand and ran over to somebody obscured by the hedge.

"Papa! I found you!" the little child exclaimed happily.

"Oh my, Miya! And here I thought I was the seeker for this game!" said the surprised deep voice of Ansem the Wise.

_ Braig stopped dead when he followed the child around the hedge. The girl was now clasped in the tight hug of a fairly tall blond man that Braig knew all too well. _

_"Y-your Majesty?" he stammered as the man stood up. Braig averted his eyes and bowed his head down in a respectful manner. _

_The ruler stood up and Braig could feel his hardened stare going over him. "Yes… Who might you be?" _

_"He saved me from a monster thing!" Miya explained happily, tugging on her father's shirt. _

_Braig lifted his head and nodded, confirming, "I was on my way to see about getting a job around here when I heard a scream and saw this little kid being attacked by this strange, weird black cricket thing… So, I shot it."_

Ansem looked at the man with a quirked eyebrow, a puzzled, surprised and a bit protective expression upon his face. The father set a protective hand on his daughters shoulder and cleared his throat.

"This is quite an interesting tale... tell me... Miya what happened?" he said looking down at his child, for a six year old, Miya was successful in giving very detailed descriptions of events, and things she saw.

"Well... we were playing hide and seek, I was hiding in the tulip bed and I watched come this way, I got out and saw a frog and followed it to the pansy bed, I sat down to look at the pansy's when all of a sudden this black strange thingy popped up and it and I stared at each other. It jumped at me... I ran away and it followed... then that guy-" she paused and pointed at Braig "-appeared from the gate and shot it! Then I came to find you, and brought him with me 'cause he needs a job... and he also saved my life!"

Ansem stood there looking at his daughter and then at Braig with a ponderous expression. When she was finished he sighed and held his hand out to the man.

"First off I want to thank you for getting rid of this creature, and secondly... you want a job. At the moment all staff positions are filled... perhaps you have something particular in mind?"

_Braig scratched behind his neck with a nervous laugh. "Oh, it was nothing, really. But, uh, I'm kind of more suited for the position of a warrior, to be honest. Not so good with the boring, leisurely jobs and stuff. Plus, that's not the first time those things have popped up. I've seen them and they can get bigger. And it can be dangerous, especially for a kid." To this, he indicated Miya with a nod. "They come in packs but eventually leave after some time. If anything, until they go away and move on, would you might need a guard? If not for within the castle, but for the squirt…" He shrugged. "It's a suggestion. I know not a lot of mishaps have happened recently but who knows? Times could be a-changing." _

_His mind was blundering for words, even though they slid out as smoothly as they did from his mouth. It was still hard to wrap round the idea that the ruler had a child that no one knew about. Well, to say, Braig hadn't known about it at all, and he had been doing some espionage around here for quite some time. _

_ And even more puzzling was how conveniently that Heartless had popped up when it did. He'd have to have a little chat with Master Xehanort when he got back; because making up stories on the spot wasn't really his greatest forte and his Master knew it. If anything he would've had like to at least know that this was going to happen so this story didn't sound like it came from the mouth of a madman as it did now. _

_'Hopefully the squirt is trustworthy and not liable for making up stories because it could be the determining factor of whether I get in or not.' He glanced down at Miya briefly before looking back up to Ansem. _

The ruler of Radiant Gardens nodded his head, eyes clouded over in ponderous thought, one large hand cupping his chin and the other resting on top of Miya's little head. Through both of their descriptions the event was quite true. Miya was wonderful at describing reality, but at her young age he wasn't sure she grasped the whole of what an imagination was... or how to use it. He trusted his daughter and thus he could trust the man before him.

Ansem came out of his revere and appraised the man before him, taking in his appearance from head to toe. Noting hygiene, attire, posture, his mannerisms and how he spoke. In Ansem's mind he seemed able bodied enough, well kept enough, had an intriguing linguistic ability, proper manners and possibly a sense of humor. All in all, Braig was not a bad prospect for being the first of a Castle Guard.

'Miya is growing older, soon she'll want to explore places beyond the castle walls... and I won't deny her that joy. But of course, I can't be with her at all times; I will want to know that she is safe. Especially with these strange creatures, if one were to come after her. The possibility of it happening again is high and the possibility of it being more than one is just as high. She'll need someone to watch and protect her when I can't.'

"You make quite a good point, Braig. Give me some time to think about it some. I should have made my mind up tomorrow. Come to the town square at this same time tomorrow, and we can discuss this proposition in depth." Ansem said, addressing the other man.

_As he said the words, it took every aspect of Braig's conscious being to not smile ecstatically. Though he hid his expression, he could not hide the joy in his voice as he bowed swiftly at the waist and said, "I thank you for your kindly consideration, sir." Looking up he nodded to them both and gazed in the direction of the gate. "I hope you two enjoy the festival as well. Heard that it's going to be the best one yet." _

_Ansem murmured in agreement and Braig took it as his indication to go. Giving a few parting words to Miya, he turned around and walked back into the brush from which the girl had led him until coming upon the path that he had strayed from in the beginning. Looking back at the large castle he felt his passive mouth begin to twitch into a devious smirk._

_ 'Now to have that chat with Master...' he hissed in his mind. That whole event was sour in his mind, but luckily it all went according to plan, kind of. So long as Ansem's decision showed as much promise as that assessment did, then everything would pan out as they intended._

Miya gave a big wave to the parting man "Goodbye, Braig! See you tomorrow!" she said with a huge grin and turned to her father, eyes glowing brightly.

"Papa, are you going to give him a job?" Miya asked swinging on his pant leg, looking up at her father.

Ansem chuckled and picked his daughter up, holding her in his arms close to him. She leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder, placing one of her small hands on one cheek, running her fingers across its surface.

He smiled and nodded. "Probably, Miya. I would be very sad if anything was to happen to you and I think it's a good idea. Perhaps two more would be sufficient as well."

"What's sufficient, Papa?" she asked quietly.

"Well it means when something is enough for a situation, my dear." he said kissing her little forehead and walking towards the castle.

"Oh... I see." Miya responded with a smile and a giggle "Your mustache tickles!"

The two laughed joyously as Ansem made his way through the garden, when they arrived at one of the back entrances the sun was setting, the red colors contrasting the remaining blue hue's in the sky.

"What do you say about having some dinner, story time, and the bed, hmm Miya?" Ansem asked opening the door and walking in.

Miya gave a small nod and stifled a yawn, "Yes, Papa, tell me a pirate story tonight... Please?"

"Of course of course!" he said with a laugh. The sounds of voice faded as the door closed, the ending of a long day, full of excitement and new discoveries coming to a close with the setting sun.

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_**AN: Well there's the first Day, please tell me what you guys think of it so far. Not everything is typo free, but we worked hard to make sure there weren't many. Please Review! We love Reviews!**_


	2. Day 2

_**AN: 'Reaching for the Stars' is a story that focus's on our two OC's Zuga and Miya, beginning before Birth By Sleep. In our RP that is 8 years prior. There is going to be a huge array of characters and alot of the settings and characters are our own take on them.**_

_****_

Just so you know... Italics are SDL's posts and regular is IPQ's posts

_**Also... please don't flame... lots of work has been put into both our characters so they aren't Mary Sue... we love them dearly and we want you guys to love them too.**_

_**WARNING:FOR THOSE WHO KNOW NOTHING OF KINGDOM HEARTS BIRTH BY SLEEP THIS RP MAY CONTAIN FORMS OF SPOILERS FOR YOU! SO DON'T BLAME US FOR A SURPRISE... YOUR WARNED!**_

_**Zuga (c) SandDragonLanayru .com/  
Miya (c) IrishPirateQueen .com/  
Kingdom Hearts (c) Square Enix & Disney**_

_**final fantasy (c) Square Enix**_

_****__AN2: Day 2 up, this is a really fun one with alot of awesome faces appearing... so read and review please!_

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_As the darkness of night enveloped around the quaint, comfortable city, Zuga sat in the confides of her room, lounging on the bed with her unwavering gaze set on the reflection of herself on the vanity. Her eyes slid over her features, still not accustomed to how presentable and clean she looked. It wasn't like she had ever been this way before. Master Xehanort had supplied her with sleeping attire, as Braig had been out and about for quite some time, too busy to do much about her sudden need of civilized things._

_The whole situation was so surreal. She wondered if it was all truly happening. Then, she would look down at her chest and see the wishbone dangling from her necklace and her heart would make a painful thump in her ribcage and she would confirm that this was no dream. This was reality and she had to cope._

___Coping meant blending in. So far, only her appearance looked slightly native. The clashing necklace was odd in apparel, for from what Zuga had seen from her window, the females wore no bones. No one wore bones, just like Master Xehanort had said. It puzzled her some, for such objects were revered back in the swamps as bragging rights, building materials, clothing, and currency._

___Her most contrasting feature though was definitely her voice. The people talked differently here. They had these things called 'long vowels' that Zuga had never pronounced before. Master Xehanort had said that in her tongue, Braig's name would've sounded like "Brauhg." They even said her own name with a funny accent: without the silent "k." sound. Not like she complained. It kind of sounded better their way than that of her own. To this she snorted with a slight smirk. The culture was rubbing off on her, it would seem._

___She was tired. Thus, she was rambling idle things to herself. She wanted nothing more than to sleep forever, but orders were orders. She'd have to learn how to talk some day. Sitting up she ran her hand through her now dry hair, nearly shocked as the first time when she felt no knots or burrs. Sighing to herself, she gave her image on the solid-water a sympathetic stare. How long had it been since she had used her voice? A couple days at least. There was nothing to say, usually. Her say was never considered anyhow for she was nothing more than a useful asset. A tool, maybe? Some saw her in a different light than that, but it was the closest thing she could compare to. _

___'Where do I start?' she wondered, falling back onto the cushions. Her hand reached under them to caress the handle of the daggers she had hidden underneath. Clucking her tongue, she groped and raked her mind for words to practice that she was to get used to saying. Not being able to get one, she decided just to murmur the Radiant Garden's way of saying the alphabet under her breath._

___So she laid there, staring at the ceiling with half-lidded eyes as she slowly said each letter and their respective sounds, as there sometimes was more than one. The drawling trance was enough to eventually make the woman lull herself to sleep, and her hand eased on the hilt of her dagger until it was peacefully resting next to her completely unconscious head._

___She was roused many times by unfamiliar noises in the night, but was too tired to care and always fell right back to sleep by murmuring words to soothe herself into ease. And even when the pale streaks of dawn leaked through the silky, thin curtains, she rolled over and ignored that too. These people did not hunt. There was no need to wake up so early. If they needed her, they would fetch her._

___Soon though, she could no longer ignore the bright sun of day as it shined heavily into her room. Bleary and groggy, she sat up. Nostalgia suddenly overtook her as she realized she felt no remorse for not waking back in the place she had called home, nor for feeling any desire to return to the place called home. A heavy weight seemed to stifle her as she thought this. It was like betrayal almost. A quick shake of her head erased such thoughts as quickly as the motion itself. With much effort, she hopped out of the plush bed, her fingers pressed to her forehead. Her steps were light and feathery as she went out into the hall, as she did not wish to wake anyone if they were still asleep._

___Her sense of direction led her down to the food place where she looked around, wondering if she was even allowed to go about in getting something for herself. For what seemed like hours, she stood there, mulling over the question while drumming her fingers on the counter tops. Blinking, she shrugged to herself. No harm would come of trying. If it was wrong, so what? The problem was she was hungry and no one was up to feed her. That was her legitimate excuse, and with her hopefully sturdy ability actually talk somewhat correctly, it wouldn't be hard to explain such a problem. Finding the conflict resolved, she went about in poking through the room, her inquisitiveness taking over again as she came across strange, alien tools. Her mind tried to recall where Braig had gotten the stuff to make her that cold meal from yesterday. The idea of eating something cold made her shudder and she recoiled at the thought._

___'I need something warm . . . ' she sighed mentally, swinging open the small handled door's. A large one of these held an assortment of things, and she shifted through each with the utmost, delicate care, making sure to put it back exactly as it had been before. Her attention caught onto a bag-like container. Its surface wasn't cold, so she assumed it to be better than a cold-cut. Now to see if she could open it. When she shook it, it made a maraca-like noise. Maracas' were made of nuts and beans so this might be a bit more familiar than what she had seen so far._

___As she soon found out, this task became more of a challenge than she had originally thought it to be. There was no opening mechanism to it from what she could see, and the words etched on it made no sense to her. She huffed, tossing the bag between each hand with a frown as she leaned up against the counter. It had been mixed in the food in the cylinders, so it had to be edible . . . The images on it looked like food, so what else could it be but just that? Her aggravated sigh racked through her body as she placed the irritating object on the flat, counter surface. She glared at it piercingly, feeling slightly insulted. She could take down giant, lizard Banshee's and shoot down a bird with the greatest accuracy, yet she could not figure out this stupid bag._

"I hate early mornings," grumbled an unkempt Braig as he walked out of his bedroom. It was nine o'clock on a Saturday morning . . . Usually he was in bed till noon on such a day like this. With a sun this bright he would have his drapes closed tightly, sealing the light out so he could sleep. But no, Master Xehanort had requested him to be up bright and early this morning just in case Zuga would happen to be an early riser.

_"What a fantastic way to start my weekend, I get to play 'babysit the swamp monster'. Yay me!" he said with a displeased expression. Braig went to his bathroom and attempted to straighten out his bed head, but after a few minutes of attempting he decided he'd just do it later. After slipping on a pair of loose pants and a button up grey shirt Braig made his way down to the kitchen to make some coffee._

_When he arrived in the kitchen he was surprised to see the reason for his early rising looking disgruntled with a bag of chips in her hand. _

"What are you doing?" he asked incredulously, sleep still lacing his voice.

_Zuga nearly squeaked. Jumping slightly, she swung her head sharply and stared wide-eyed at Braig. Closing her gaping mouth slightly, she hung her head down toward the bag. She hated asking for help, because for the most part she was usually able to take care of herself. But it seemed that if she wanted to get any food today it looked like she wouldn't be able to do it alone._

_Reaching out, she swiped the infuriating object and held it out to him, still glaring at the counter. She didn't watch him take it from her hands and only glanced up when she found that it would be wise to see how he got the job done._

_And didn't she feel stupid when he merely pulled the bag open in one go from the sides. She fought down a grumble when he handed it back to her. Zuga stared at the opened bag with a look of contempt before digging out a piece of its contents and examining it critically. After deeming it adequate enough, she nibbled on it hesitantly, trying to ignore Braig standing there staring at her._

_After a few moments she heard him say, "Gee, don't I get a thank you?" He had said it with a laugh, in an offhand sort of way with his arms crossed smugly._

_Zuga peered up at him and let her hand draw away from her mouth a tad._

_" Thank you."_

Braig gave a light nod and turned toward the counter, his eyes still glazed over with the desire for sleep.

"You're quite welcome . . . Wait-WHAT?"

Braig spun back around abruptly to face her, his amber eyes wide with pleasant surprise. All thoughts of sleep were now completely gone from his body. Had he heard the woman right? Had he actually just heard her talk?

He stumbled around for his own words, jumping from one sound to the next. "A.. Wh . . . Ho . . .What did you just say?"

In all honesty he had not expected a reply at all. It was just supposed to be some light banter to poke some fun at her. And she had responded to it! That alone he had been enough to force him into comical surprise.

_His excitement made her stare bluntly at him with a disturbed frown. Her chest knotted up with unease as he began to fret over what he had just heard. When Braig saw her retreat back into her quiet shell he waved his hands about worriedly._

___"No, no, talking is good," he stressed. "Say it again! What did you just say?"_

___Zuga tilted her head to the side and down, her eyes locked on him in a strange stare. Inwardly groaning to herself, she cleared her throat softly. " I said 'Thank you.'"_

___He was speechless. It was his turn now to gape at her in amazement. She didn't know what the big deal was, really. True as it may be, she had said not a word yet to anyone, but was it necessary to make such a fuss over her voice? It made her want to just take back everything she had just done to avoid this now so very awkward silence. If anything it was embarrassing._

___Well, there was no taking it back now._

___Finally, Braig found himself again and asked, pointing to himself, "Do you Can you say my name?"_

___She blinked owlishly at him and said after a small pause, " Braig."_

___A broad grin spread over his face. "That's it Now, how about our master?"_

___He was treating her like a child that had just learned its first words. She bit her lip sighed. "Master Xeh a-nort." His name had been a struggle for her, as it was a very out there kind of name for her standards. She cringed afterwards, hoping she had gotten it right._

___Braig was ecstatic with her. "Right And how do you say your name? Is Zuga really your name? Have we been saying it right?"_

___So many questions! The man was as giddy as an adventurous child. She still wasn't comfortable with his interview-ish like conversation with her. She wasn't exactly comfortable with the conversation in general. Not using her voice in a while had definitely put a strain on her throat. Still, she had to answer his questions _

___She heaved in a breath with a flushed face and tried to say with as much accuracy in her dialect as possible, "My name is Zugareranach-" she felt her mouth twist into a small smirk as she saw his face fall into shock again, "-but, they call me " To this she stopped abruptly and stared at the floor with a furrowed brow. She actually liked how they said her name it sounded less complicated that way. And if it would help her sound more native And possibly forget her past life-time, then... _

___"Zu-kg Zuga." It felt strange saying her name like they did "It's Zuga."_

Braig gave a satisfied nod with his head, a pleased smile on his face, meaning he was beaming ear to ear. And seemed as hyper as a kid on coffee... thing was... he hadn't even gotten to make his coffee yet. To say he was pleased was an extreme understatement, he was ecstatic! Ecstatic that she had spoken to him first and not to Master Xehanort, and just that... she TALKED!

"Wow..." he said still looking slap-silly, like he was still coming off the high of sudden surprise. "I... I'm quite impressed!" he said in a calmer tone.

"Ye... You know what? I'm going to make something nice for you for breakfast," he said with a nod of his head, the look in his eyes was serious, meaning she basically had no choice. "And besides, chips are definitely not a nutritious breakfast."

He went about pulling stuff out for an omelet and spoke to her over his shoulder. "Hey, Zuga, if you want to ask any questions, go ahead."

_Her face was still flushed in color as he began now rewarding her for speaking. She hovered near the edges of the food-place, rubbing her throat soothingly. She had a whole load of questions to ask but if he was going to reward her for each one she had then maybe it'd be better to say nothing at all. But when would she get a chance to ask later? If this whole episode would repeat itself with Master Xehanort later today then possibly asking Braig would be a better choice._

_She crunched on the chips with a set jaw, trying to figure out which question was more important. Finally she didn't feel like it mattered and rolled off with a clearing cough._

_" What is this room called?"_

_He looked over his shoulder, seemingly surprised all over again. "A kitchen."_

_Her eyes traveled around the place warily. "And why does your kind use wood to build your houses?"_

_"It not all wood," he explained, "there are bricks to. We use those because they are the most sturdy materials."_

_This made her brow furrow. "What's a 'brick'?"_

_"Compacted ceramic stuff." When she stared at him with an even more confused expression he sighed, "It's a rock shaped like a rectangle."_

_Finally feeling enlightened, Zuga crossed her arms and set down the chip bag on the counter. At this point she found it hard to come up with anything else that might sound too straightforward for the moment. She really wanted to know why she was here, where this 'magic' came from and how to use it or where to get it, when she was to be deported to this research place and how she'd be able to become like one of them before that time came._

_It was all a pressuring thought to shoulder, and she reached to her necklace to stroke it softly with her thumb. The motion made her nerves calm down a bit and she found it easier to relax. The thought of the necklace's origin made her bite her lip once glancing towards the window. She stared at it from the corner of her eye and asked warily, "Does your world have bogs?"_

_"Sorry, Swamp Monster, no swamps here," he laughed. "Just a deciduous forest. The closest thing to a bog we have here is a two-inch deep fountain." As he said it he walked over with a steaming plate and slid it over to her from across the counter top. _

_She stared at it with a troubled frown. "What's this?" She held up a shiny, metal object with prongs on it. "It looks like what we used to jab at our kill. But much smaller "_

_He gave her a dead expression and pointed to it. "It's a fork, Zuga. You kinda use it like that, just only to pick up your food rather than use your hands. You guys cooked your food, right?"_

_She glared up at him. "Of course we did. We'd get sick if we didn't, "she grumbled. "We don't use our hands either. We use bone-crafted picks." She didn't see his expression after that because she was too busy staring at the strange object on her plate. Not finding it worth to question what it was because she probably didn't know what ingredients it might hold anyway from such a world. She poked the fork at it experimentally to test its worth and found it of better use than the prong at home. To top it off, the thing was hot and she had been aching for something warm to settle in her belly._

_As usual, she stuck a tiny sliver in her mouth before having away at. There was a sort of meat inside of it, which made her happy. Once gulping down a mouthful of it she looked up to Braig who was now getting out a mug of sorts from the shelf._

_" And how primitive do you think I am?" She questioned lightly with a slow, amused smirk spreading over her face._

Braig went about making his coffee, putting the grounds through the grinder and then dumping them into the maker. After his coffee was going Braig went about making his omelet as him and Zuga discussed what a fork was.

"... And how primitive do you think I am?"

Braig's left eyebrow couldn't help but twitch, without even looking at her he knew she had an amused smirk on her face. Well he could lie... slightly and soften up his response... or he could be brutally honest... and Braig prided himself on being an honest guy.

Turning he leaned against the counter, a cocky grin on his face. "Well... let's think back Zuga... when Master Xehanort brought you here the other day you were one, covered in bones; two, Where wearin' rags for clothes, and three, you didn't know how to open a door on your own... Four..." he stopped when he finally noted the dead pan stare she was giving him.

The 'I got it' look. He gave a light shrug and chuckled.

"Honestly Swamp Monster... I thought you were as primitive as a rock." he said with a laugh.

_She kneaded the fork between her fingers in an irritated manner. Her face was set into a scowling pout as she inwardly snarled over his words and to that nickname he seemed so attached to as well. He kept calling her that and she didn't understand why. "I could to open a door by myself It just took me a minute to figure it out." He only laughed to that, which again, made her scowl deepen. Huffing, she retreated back to her food, picking up the now only left scraps. Zuga sighed._

_"We're not as primitive as you think," she started suddenly after a moment's silence, staring at the metallic object in her hands with a wistful glint in her eyes. "We can build great statues and buildings made from only skeletons and twine. And we've made things that allow us to hunt under the water's surface. That includes weapons and armory. We made things that let us breathe under water too." She looked around the room haughtily. "And besides, not all of the objects in here are unfamiliar to me... I know what that is," she pointed to the cup in his hands. "I'm not sure what your people call it but we call it a 'cup.'"_

_He grinned. "We call it that too. Or a glass, or a mug."_

_A satisfied, smug chuckle escaped her. "Perhaps we're not as different as you perceive after all." She dropped the fork into the middle of her plate with a clatter, pushing the dish away; its contents might as well being licked clean._

_"Then tell me," he said amused. "What other things in here are you familiar with?"_

_She nodded to the fork. "We used something like that, but it was single-pronged." Then she nudged the plate again. "Ours is made of clay " Swiveling around, she began analyzing everything else. She pointed to the cabinets. "I had stuff like that, but everything here that involves a handle of some sort was all decorative tarp's back where I come from." She sagged back against the counter. "That's it for in here, really. Unless you count water."_

_"Nope. Water doesn't count, Swamp Monster. Every world has it," Braig said as he took a swig of his strong-scented drink._

_Zuga frowned. " Why do you keep calling me that? I'm not a Swamp Monster."_

Braig gave a shrug and scooped his omelet onto a plate and began eating it, standing there leaning against the counter. He wondered what was up with all these question? Sure he expected the 'What is that?' type question, but these 'Why?' questions were unexpected.

"Well, let me tell you something, Zuga. When you came here you sure looked like a Swamp Monster to me... Now maybe you don't, but still... First impressions are long lasting. Plus I find it amusing."

The man chuckled and finished up his breakfast, scooping up Zuga's dishes and his and rinsing them in the sink. While waiting for her response he went about cleaning up the kitchen.

_Again her face fell. The nickname was a peeve and she found it making her self-conscious. Her orders had been to blend in after all and if she did, in any way, shape, or form, resembled something that marched straight out of a muddy swamp then she would definitely want to fix it. She folded her arms and huffed, blowing her bangs out of her face._

_Under her breath she muttered in an annoyed grumble, "I am not a swamp monster " Braig must've not have heard her because he didn't have a snappy comeback to it. She lifted her head slightly, looking around searchingly._

_"I want to know what importance do I hold to this 'plan' you and Master Xehanort were talking about earlier? I have nothing to offer but my loyalty and servitude." She yet again began to stroke her necklace. "I don't understand how I could help. Why I am I here?" Of course, she would've smacked herself if she had voiced such questions aloud, which is why she had only said them inside her head, fantasizing over whatever strange answer the man might come up with. She wanted to know, but at the same time she didn't. It was rude to intrude upon a topic that she had not been invited upon to know about._

_Her shoulders slumped in exasperation, staring out the bright window with a cocked head. Outside Braig had asked her day-prior if she had wanted to go outside. Yesterday had been different though. She had been scared, and uneasy about this place. It was only day two, and she still wasn't very familiar with it, but maybe a good way to get started with that step was to take the next big one and venture out there. If it meant just figuring out how to open the window to climb on to the roof to observe the other people here, then so be it. She felt her hand clutch around the slender bone on her chest._

_A cough made her snap out of her daze and blink back to life. She turned her head to Braig who gave her a pointed look. "What?"_

_"I said what did you plan on doing today?"_

_She pursed her mouth into a frown. 'Gee, don't know, Braig, I have no idea. I was going to go outside and terrorize the locals, but if you had something else for me to do, then-' "I was going to see if Master had a job me to do." she answered plainly with as much innocence as possible. _

_Braig nodded and was about to answer her when a creak on the steps made Zuga swivel her head as the sound got closer. She withdrew into her shell again nervously as Master Xehanort himself walked around the entryway, his golden eyes staring at the two without much emotion behind them. A knot formed in her chest and she tried to think of something that would make herself diminish from his attention. Nothing came to mind so she was forced to stay rooted in place which made her feel awkward._

_Finally the hunched-over man let out a sigh. "You two are noisy." He nodded to her and then asked, "So I assume you've found your voice, then?"_

_Zuga tucked her chin to her chest and stared at the floor. "Yes, sir."_

_He bobbed his head and murmured something under his breath that she didn't catch. He shuffled further into the kitchen past Braig and observed the dishes in the sink. "You made sure to feed her, didn't you, Braig?"_

_At that point Zuga just wanted to shuffle out and retreat back into her room. It was a strange sensation to feel so helpless when literally only less than a day ago she was a strong, powerful warrior. And to feel helpless to these men as well. Men, that if she had been in her homeland, she would've been able to outrun and best in a contest of durability and strength._

_'First impressions are everything, isn't that what you said, Braig? Alright. Let's see what we have here Withered, old scholar and his stringy looking apprentice ' She would've grinned and laughed at herself had they not been in the same room as her. She decided to keep her placid expression frozen into place and try not to talk too much. As it was harshly learned back in her tribe, it was better to keep one's opinions to yourself and not say anything at all._

Braig became serious when his elderly master came into the kitchen, responding to his question with a simple nod. He wished the man hadn't come down yet, Braig was enjoying the conversation Zuga and he were having. And who knew if she would talk so freely in the future. The young man could see her already shrinking back into her quite little shell, and he so much wanted to pull her out of it.

Braig became serious when his elderly master came into the kitchen, responding to his question with a simple nod. He wished the man hadn't come down yet, Braig was enjoying the conversation Zuga and he were having. And who knew if she would talk so freely in the future. The young man could see her already shrinking back into her quite little shell, and he so much wanted to pull her out of it.

To be completely honest he was looking forward to having a different variety of company besides the old Master Xehanort.

After washing the remaining dishes and putting them away Braig cleared his throat and turned to his mentor. "I'm not sure if I told you last night Master, but I'm going to be leaving this afternoon to meet with the King of Radiant Garden's. I think there's a strong possibility that I'll be able to have a position in his services."

_Master Xehanort only slowly nodded his head, as if barely paying attention, mumbling in understanding. "This is good " He tucked his arms behind his stooped back, face twisting into a small, pleased expression. He turned towards the direction of the study and began to walk out. Before he did so, though, he chuckled, "Don't I get a 'thank you, Master Xehanort,' Braig?"_

_Zuga felt a sudden, split second of irony before looking to the raven-haired man to see him frown. He glanced her way, which made her smirk vanish into a strained, thin line. Turning his head back to Master Xehanort, Braig sighed in an overly unctuous tone, "Thank you Master Xehanort "_

_The elderly man tilted his head slightly backwards. "Very good, Braig. We have to teach the young lady manners, remember? Don't be a bad influence. Especially since you might just be spending a good portion of your time watching over a little child." Letting his apprentice sulk over his words for a moment, he waited, and then addressed, "Zuga, you can do and go wherever you want. Just don't get into trouble."  
_

_'That's just the problem ' she thought exasperated. 'I don't have anything to do.'_

_Master Xehanort said nothing more and moved out, making silence fall over the kitchen._

_She stared at the window again, this time pacing over to it and looking at it with a critical expression. Glancing over her shoulder she said to Braig softly, as if not to disturb anyone, "How do you open these?"_

Braig looked a bit perplexed, watching Master Xehanort walk out of the room with his eyebrows knit in confused frown. 'How the flip does he know I might be watching over a child? I never mentioned Miya to him.' The man shrugged, sighing and shaking his head. He would never understand everything his master did and said, but he would go down this road just so long as it meant he got what he wanted most.

"How do you open these?" Zuga's soft spoken words seemed extremely loud in the very quiet kitchen now.

Braig looked over at her and gave an owlish blink before coming over to the window she stood by. Flipping the lock on it he opened the two panes outwards. "There ya go!" he said semi-cheerfully, walking away from her.

_She watched him turn away and exit the kitchen with a stone-faced expression. Then she smirked, thoroughly amused, and looked back at the window, studying the way it was designed and how it had been clipped together. Once being satisfied by her observations, she backed away and began mulling over different things she could do to pass the time. She could explore the house more, ask Braig about some stuff, or go back to her room and open her own window to get up to the roof._

_Well, she'd rather take a better look at the house when no one else was here. Braig seemed preoccupied with whatever job he was trying to get, so that left just her room. Sighing, she did just that, feeling the silence close over her throat again. Immediately she went next to her bed and peeled the cushions away to make sure her daggers hadn't been removed. Pleased to see they were still there, she walked to the stagnant curtains and threw them out of her way to do the same thing she had saw Braig do prior. The window easily flung open, and she stuck her head out experimentally. There was a sturdy three-inch sill. She tilted her head up. Above she could see the edge of the roof, lined with pipe-like things. Glancing down, she looked for anyone who might be able to see her stunt._

_There were people in the square setting up colorful tapestries and stands. Her face furrowed. They seemed pretty preoccupied Taking another good look around the window, she hefted herself onto the sill and crouched low on it, reaching for the line of pipe. Bracing her feet up against the bricks, as she then recalled that being what Braig had called them, she got her grip on the roof shingles and was able to catapult herself to the top of the edge expertly. Getting away from said edge, she paced a few meters away before plopping herself down to watch._

_It was an interesting place, and beautiful, she had to admit. On every available place that wasn't taken up by colorful pavement there were flowers. They were in all different shapes, sizes, and colors with intricate petal designs that Zuga found exceedingly interesting. And the buildings were huge. She could see over the other roofs the peaks of a skyscraper building, blockaded by a large fenced-in border. She hadn't come to look at the architecture, though, she noted to herself. It was then that she began observing the small swarms of people running about, getting ready for some sort of weird frenzy._

_Large, bird-like creatures were being led into pens, their anatomy similar to some of the things she had been living with back in the swamp. Though, she prided knowing that her birds were much prettier than these golden, over-sized chickens._

_'Ha They even use them for mounts ' she laughed to herself, seeing a man upon a tacked one. Her mouth twisted into a grin, recalling the giant, saber-cats that they rode back in Lackluster. 'Our Capurna's could eat these things alive We may not be as advanced as these people, but our animals are much better. But perhaps their flowers make up for the lack of design in their mounts.' She mused over the idea quietly with a satisfied grin._

_Throughout her quiet study, she made mental note of things to ask about later, from the birds, the people, that skyscraper, the plants and how and why people interacted with each other like they did. The interactions bothered her the most. The men and women alike were working on the same projects, the same jobs, and some of the females were even directing the men on what to do. And the men were obeying. She was perplexed. Did these females actually have authority power? It was strange to think about, this land being governed by a female. It would explain the abundance of color and flowers she scoffed to herself, entertaining the idea of a female ruler. But then she recalled the conversation, brief as it was, with Master Xehanort and Braig; and Braig had mentioned a "King of Radiant Gardens." So perhaps they didn't have so much authority that they could become ruler? Zuga didn't know, and would ask later._

_For the most part, though, she was content with lounging on the sun-bathed singles, watching. But, she couldn't help but shiver. This world wasn't nearly as humid and hot as the swamp. If anything, to her, it was comparable to cold. She cocked her head, mulling over the fact that she'd probably get used to it in a few moons._

After Braig walked out of the kitchen he headed for the front door to pick up the morning paper. Opening his door he pulled the rolled up newsprint from the mailbox by the door and went back inside, kicking the door closed with his foot as he began to read. He had hours to kill till he had to meet Ansem at 3 that afternoon. Grabbing his coffee mug Braig headed up to his study and nestled himself in his couch. Opening the paper he lost himself in its print.

* * *

Back at the castle the night had passed by like every single night, Ansem had tucked Miya to in bed and read her a story. Like most nights she fell asleep before he was even finished with the book. But unlike most nights, Ansem didn't leave her bedroom, he sat in the dark watching his little daughter sleep peacefully while he sat and mulled over the words of Braig. He had felt quite guilty for having not been there when that... thing... had attacked her. Ansem couldn't help but wonder what would of happened if Braig hadn't shown up.

Standing from his chair and walking from the dawn lit room, Ansem ran his broad hand over his face, a worried sigh passing through his lips. Going to the large kitchen Ansem went about making himself some coffee, and prepare some breakfast for the little early bird. With it being the weekend the servants were off, as had been his request many years ago and the whole castle was extremely quiet at this hour. Ansem had to admit it was a pleasurable quiet, though soon his little ray of sunshine would be awake and her melodious voice would be music to his ears.

Ansem pulled a chair up to the kitchen's counter and stared out of one of the windows, watching the sun rise, his thoughts traveling six years back and to a particularly starry night. The night that he'd found Miya in the garden. It had been such a surprise to have gone out on that late night stroll alone and then to return with a small and fragile baby girl.

Not many people knew about his daughter. The castle's staff and a few people outside knew, but besides that no one else. Though her existence wasn't a secret to the world, he just believed that such a young child didn't need to be the talk of Radiant Gardens. Soon though she'd be going and playing outside and today was to be no exception. It was to be her first time going to the Spring Festival and he was probably more excited than she was.

To see her face light up at seeing something new each corner turned was going to be the biggest adventure the two of them had ever shared.

The sound of little feet on wooden floor was what brought Ansem out of his thoughts, turning on the stool he saw Miya walk into the kitchen. She was rubbing her little eyes, her purple hair in an artistic way that only sleep can manage. He went over to her and picked his daughter up into his arms, patting her baby blue pj's straight, and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

The child made a face and rubbed her cheek with a giggle "Your face tickles papa," she said wrapping her small arms around his neck and giving him a big hug and kissing his own cheek.

Laughing in his deep baritone laugh he set Miya down on a chair at the kitchen's table. "So are you excited for today Miya? We're going to the festival today, remember?" he said over his shoulder as he went about making her scrambled eggs for breakfast.

Miya bounced in her seat and turned around to face him, leaning against the chairs back with her knees in the seat. "Of course I am, Papa... How could I forget? As soon as I'm finished with breakfast I'm going to get myself dressed! I want to wear the yellow sundress! Please, please, please?" she said with a big smile.

Laughing once more at the face his daughter gave him, Ansem nodded and set down a cup of orange juice down at her place at the table. "Yes, Miya, you may wear your yellow sundress. You'll match the Chocobo's you love so dearly."

Miya grinned and nodded, turning to sip at her drink and then eat her breakfast her father set before her. Once she was done she flew off her chair and ran to her room, leaving her father to finish his food and coffee.

The child's first line of business was brushing her teeth, brushing her matted nest of hair, and washing her face and hands. After finishing that she went into her room and grabbed her clothes and got herself dressed. When she returned to the kitchen her father had obviously done the same thing, for he was in a different set of clothes, and he'd shaved.

Miya bounded over to him and crawled up into his lap and rested her head on his chest and sat there while he read the newspaper and drank his coffee.

_After he had rid of every last drop of coffee in his mug and had gotten his fill of the morning paper, Braig looked up at the clock to see it nearly noon. He had three hours until his meeting with the King. He sighed, folding the monochromatic colored sheets of paper into a thin roll and leisurely stalked up to his room after placing his coffee mug near the sink. _

_The rest of those hours were filled with him getting his best uniform cleaned spotless and slicking back his hair so that no more of it was in his face. He even omitted his favorite kerchief for a cleaner one, since said favorite was slightly tattered towards the bottom._

_He was completely set as soon as the clock in the hallway struck two thirty. Slipping on the bulky white gloves encrusted with Radiant garden's seal, he passed his Master's study, saying as he passed, "I'm leaving."_

_"Don't break anything," his master chided sarcastically from within._

_Grinning with a snort he took to the door and locked it behind him out of habit. He felt mildly perplexed there for a minute as he tucked the key into his pocket. It wasn't like Master Xehanort would let someone break in. It wouldn't be like anyone would break into his house in the first place. He chuckled over his carefulness leisurely as the crowds began to thicken the deeper he went into the town. _

_It indeed was more magnificent than last year. He assumed Ansem must've gotten a larger deposit due to his newest contraptions. There were new games, more Chocobo's than last time and he even passed a track for racing them._

_Braig decided it would be best to look for the King near the center of the excitement: right at the Fountain Square._

The royal family left for the festival at a quarter past 10, late enough that the sun was shining and early enough that not many people would be there yet. As Ansem led them down to the town square Miya skipped beside him, humming and holding his hand. She was a bundle full of energy, filled to the brim with excitement only a child could have.

Upon arriving at the festival grounds Miya's eyes were wide as she took it all in. The bright banners, flags and decorations gave color to the air above, the strings of lights all over the booths and walk ways would make a canopy of lights when it became dark, and the booths and stands brought it all down to eye level. The festival itself was centered in the business district, and the center of the grounds was the Fountain Square.

As the two walked around Ansem accepted the cordial ways of his subjects, their greetings and their waves, but he did not acknowledge their questioning stares to the child at his side. And for the time being his dear daughter was oblivious them, as entranced as she was by the festival it was no surprise.

He had to admit that the festival looked spectacular and radiant. Much more radiant than any of the spring festival's in the past. And it was drawing in quite a crowd. He noted the familiar faces of the locals and then the unfamiliar ones from villages and towns he was less acquainted with.

Ansem led Miya to where the game booths were. He taught her how to play some of the festival games; her favorite was trying to land a ball into a fish bowl. She was very adamant about winning the calico goldfish swimming around in the center bowl. The child was finally convinced by her father that there would be time to try later, and the two moved on.

It was noon exactly when they moved out of the games, Miya having thoroughly explored that area of the festival. She'd given a hand at most of them, and she had convinced her father to do a few as well. Ansem saw that she was enjoying herself, and because of that he couldn't have been happier.

For lunch Ansem bought them some egg salad sandwich pockets from one of the vendors and they sat down in one of the empty lawn areas shaded by the tall trees. It took Ansem a while to calm Miya down enough to sit still and eat her lunch, and when she finally did she zoomed through it, ready to move on to the next area of the festival. It was 1 o'clock once lunch was finished.

Till the clock struck 3 Ansem and Miya went through the Chocobo tent, and that's where they stayed. It was right by the Fountain Square and Ansem could easily see it from the tent, he too was quite anticipating meeting with Braig. He'd made his decision.

As the king waited, he watched Miya walk around the perimeter of the corrals, watching the older Chocobos with bright brown eyes. That lasted an hour, and then she wanted to feed the Chocobo chicks. She sat in the straw feeding them bread crumbs till Ansem called her over to him.

"Papa what are we going to do now?" she asked looking up at him and tugging on his sleeve.

"We are going to go meet that nice man from yesterday Miya."

"We're going to see Braig?"

He nodded.

"Yay!"

_The square was crowded, people using the area as a crossing to different parts of the festival. Braig brushed through the hordes of people, inching his way carefully to the large, water-spraying structure at the center, feeling as if eyes were on him around every way he detoured. Kids darted out in front of him and he balked abruptly to let them through, even though they had completely unnoticed their would-be collision. Grinning to the naivety of the people, he finally reached the sculpture in the middle, resting his hand on the edge with a proud sigh of relief for not being plowed over. _

_The man perked up his head alertly, turning it about to see if he could get a glimpse of the king. Seeing no sign of him in the immediate area, he slowly rotated around the rim of the fountain. About halfway around he found his target and approached him with a bright grin. Resting his fists on his hips, he looked down at Miya and said, "Hey there, kiddo. Liking what you see?"_

_"Braig!" She nearly screeched. _

_Beaming at her overjoyed face briefly, he then turned his attention to Ansem and shook his hand in greeting, noting the serious glint in his dark almond eyes. Braig felt his own gaze steeling up and he said in all politeness, "Your Majesty."_

_"Braig," he replied in equal courtesy as he released his grip on Braig's hand._

_"Have you seen any more of those icky black monsters, Miya?" he suddenly asked, averting his eyes away from the king to look at Miya, who returned her attention to him as soon as she heard her name._

_"Nuh-uh!" she said. "You must've scared them all off!"_

_"Let's keep it that way, alright?" Braig chuckled, making sure to give Ansem a meaningful glance out of the corner of his eye, trying to keep down the sly grin he had planted within his mind._

Ansem gave a light nod and patted Miya on the head. "Don't worry Miya, from now on your not going to need to worry about those monsters."

"Why not, Papa?" she asked looking up at him.

"Because... I think I found the right man to keep you safe where ever you go."

"Who?" she asked tilting her head to the side and looking hopefully at Braig.

Ansem grinned and nodded his head toward Braig, turning to the man. "If Braig is still interested in the job, then... I believe he is the one."

Miya turned to look at Braig and grabbed his hand and began jumping up and down. "Please say yes, Braig! Please say yes!"

_That grin he'd been concealing opened up when hearing her shrill voice plead for his approval. With an amused snort he looked up at the king with strong eyes, saying, "I'd be honored."_

_It made Miya rushed from his hand to his legs, which she strangled in her circle of arms. Like a wind-up toy, she kept bouncing until running out of juice, all the while saying "yes" multiple times over. Braig used the rim of the fountain as a balance to steady himself as she threatened to make him fall over._

_Ansem was able to finally peel his daughter away from him, saying, "Then it's done. Congratulations, Braig. You're the first of the Royal Guards."_

_It made him bob his head, still having that plastered grin on his face. "I head a 's' in there. I suppose I'm not going to be the last?"_

_"No," he said, shaking his head. "I've decided that perhaps a few more guards for the castle grounds might be necessary. As you said Times could be changing." He tilted his head up. "But we'll discuss that later."_

Miya began rocking back and forth on her heels with a wide eyes and a hyper gleam in those glowing amber eyes. She listened to the two men as her father began to go into the details of Braig's new job and the duties he'd have. Along with pay and other details that were totally not important to a child who was excited and a bit A.D.D. when it came to the festival.

After about five minutes of standing there, trying to be a polite young lady, respecting her father and Braig while they spoke, she got bored. After those five minutes she couldn't take it anymore. Those impatient child instincts kicked in and her little hand lifted up to tug on her father's cuffed up shirt sleeve.

"Papa? Can I go back over to the Chocobo pen? I'm awfully bored right now and I would so love to go feed the chick's again." She said with her eyes as big as saucers and she spoke in a polite respectful tone that would turn most fathers to jello.

_Ansem looked down at Miya. Braig noted the giant, irresistible stare she was giving him with a quiet chuckle. He settled that tidbit of information deep within the recesses of his mind for future reference. If there was a time where he needed to use something against his new boss, then this little girl was definitely the tool to use. "You can go to the Chocobo pen," he said justly. "Just don't wander too far." Miya beamed like a ray of sun before thanking her father greatly and dashing off into the crowds towards the white and red tent. Ansem sighed after her, giving Braig a nice, long side glance. "Little girls, eh?" Braig laughed. "Little girls."_

_

* * *

_

_Towards the back of the city, where money wasn't so elaborately lavish, lived a small district of people. They were not poor, nor discontent. They seemed to have just gotten the short straws of life when it came to getting the best, or perhaps the bustle of the center just wasn't their cup of tea._

_There were two, young boys famous around that part of town for their strange way of living, but more frequently and commonly known for their practical jokes and rascal mischief._

_They were walking in the middle of one of the empty streets, one in front of the other, though there was plenty of room to walk side by side. In front was a thin, wan-faced boy, his steps quick and brisk, jaw set. Behind him was another child, his features as pale as his friend's, but the contrast of their personality was evident in the way they carried themselves. The one in the back was obviously slightly taller than the one in front. He was slouched, his head was hanging, and posture slacked._

_"C'mon, Lea, or we'll be late for the gambles!" the smaller boy shouted over his shoulder to his companion, hearing the roar of the public getting nearer as they approached the carnival. It was in the mid hours of afternoon, and the sun was shining bright overhead with a few wisps of clouds drifting about._

_The flame-haired child was lagging behind him, dragging his feet on the colored pavement. "But I don't want to run," he whined, rolling his emerald eyes up to the sky, exasperated. _

_Isa scowled at him with matching green eyes, growling, "We need this, Lea. It could be our only chance to strike gold!"_

_"You say that every year! Then when we lose and you spend all the rest of our money on peeling tickets! 'Oh, just one more, I'm sure this'll be the one that will make us rich!' You always say that, but it never happens."_

_The other, blue haired boy only flapped his hand about in a dismissive manner. "Whatever! I didn't drag you with me to hear your negative comments. Just hurry up!"_

_With a groan the other picked up his feet and began to run with his friend through the streets, taking a few back-alley cuts to get to the track where the large Chocobos were lined up on the other side of a large-wooden fence. They weren't racers: just for show. The real troopers were inside getting tacked and ready. _

_With all thoughts of being tired suddenly vanishing from Lea, he rushed to the fence and hopped on it, whistling in awe, "Whoa! Look at them, Isa, they're huge!"_

_They did this every year, but none seemed to catch the odd repetition in it. Isa soon joined him up on the fence, reaching out to touch one of the glossy feathers. Lea smacked his arm_

_"You'll fall in like you did two years ago and get in trouble!" he reprimanded harshly._

_Isa snapped, "Well, I recall someone pushing me."_

_"I did not!" Lea defended, looking aghast with disbelief._

_Isa punched his shoulder. "Did too!"_

_The other did the same. "It was an accident!"_

_Another punch. "But you still pushed me!"_

_"Not on purpose, though!"_

_They kept at this until they found the matter suddenly hilarious, where they both broke out into grins and laughed, hopping down off the fence. The Chocobos looked at them sideways with wary brown eyes, as if finding their behavior ludicrous. With arms tucked behind their heads, they made their way into the tents, Isa beginning his diligent work._

_"What shall we go for this year, Lea?" he asked calmly, peering through some of the metal bars to look at the racers._

_"Well, I remember that the one we picked last year, Fletcher, was only mediocre at sixth place. Don't pick him, Isa," his friend advised, standing behind him. "Let's pick that one!" he pointed to a large bird towards the back, his head leaning over the other gate to look into the neighboring stall of Chocobos._

_Isa studied him for a bit before shaking his head. "No."_

_Lea looked hurt by the discharge of his choice. "Why not?"_

_"He gets too distracted. Look at him, not focused at all."_

_Lea stared at the bird for a minute, cocking his head this way and that until seeing the logic of it. "Well which one do you think will win?" he asked._

_Isa shrugged and stuffed his hands into his khaki shorts. He shuffled through the straw-littered tent to the next stall, mouth pursed in concentration. Lea followed him, nearly riding up his back when the other boy stopped to observe the new selection._

_"Hey, these guys are the younger bunch," the blue-haired boy said, nodding to them. "Perhaps we'll have a better shot here."_

_There was no objection from Lea, so they crowded up against the chain-linked fence, observing the racers with wide eyes. Finally, a broad grin broke out on Isa's face and he stuck his small arm through one of the chained holes of the fence and pointed. "That one."_

_Lea stared at him doubtfully. "Why that one?"_

_"I just feel like it'll be lucky."_

_This made the red-head frown. "When you say that, you jinx it."_

_"It'll be different! I swear!" Isa assured, his charisma swaying his one-person audience without another question._

_Lea gave a crooked smile of devoted trust. "If you say so "_

Miya gave a squeal of delight before turning and dashing off into the sea of colors and people. Running through the crowded Fountain Square wasn't as easy as the 6 year old, or any child for that matter, made it seem. She was oblivious to the elders and other hazards that could have run her over, or obscured her path in any way.

When she reached the red and white tent, Miya paused and walked in timidly. Ducking past the people who stood in the entrance and past those who stood in the walkways,mMaking her way to a quiet corner she had seen earlier by one of the pens that held the chocobo chicks. As she reached her target Miya looked around to see if anyone was looking and climbed through the wooden railed fence, and settled herself behind the barrel in the chick pen. She settled down and gave a sigh, getting comfortable in the straw on the dirt floor, loving that her view of the people outside was obscured and hoping she was unseen from them.

Reaching into her dress pocket Miya pulled out a bag of bread crumbs and held her hand out to one of the chicks that had come to investigate the strange purple haired creature in their space. Smiling, large brown eyes watched as the chick began to peck at the crumbs in her hand. She gradually pulled her hand back till the chick was eating out of the bag in her lap. Soon a few other chicks noticed that their sibling had found a yummy treat source and joined . Soon a handful was pecking away at the bread crumbs in her lap.

Sitting in her corner with her five chick friends, Miya watched the chicks intently and listened to the voices outside just as intently as she was staring. Her curiosity was piqued when she heard the voices of two other children. The reason her attention was caught was because the voices weren't coming from the common observation area. But behind the tent wall she leaned against. Turning around and prying the corner away from the ground and side, she looked through her peep hole and saw the area was completely empty. Except over by a pen were she saw two boys lounging against the fence pointing at different racing Chocobos.

Deciding to leave the chicks and subdue the rising curiosity in her small body, Miya made the flap big enough for her to crawl through. After closing it back up, so none of the chicks could escape, Miya crawled over to hide behind some barrels that hid her from the two boy's view.

After listening to the red haired and blue haired boy discuss the different racing Chocobos Miya realized they were appraising them. The girl smiled and came to stand behind the two, watching them intently.

The blue haired, shorter boy pointed to a Chocobo to the far back of the pen, and declared with a pleased "That one".

"Why that one?" the red haired boy said looking at his friend.

"I just feel like it'll be lucky."

"When you say that, you jinx it." the boy said with a frown.

"It'll be different I swear " the charismatic blue head said looking at his friend with a determined expression.

"If you say so " the other boy said clapping his friend on the shoulder. "I just hope your right, I'm tired of losing all the time to those punks."

Peeking past the two, still unnoticed and silent, she appraised their chosen Chocobo and frowned. "Uhm... no it's not." she said in a matter of fact tone, looking at the two boys with her head tilted to the side. "You two are quite silly if you think that Chocobo is going to win... whatever it's supposed to win."

_The two boys jumped and whirled around, their eyes wide like a cat caught with a canary. Isa narrowed his green gaze into slits when seeing the small girl looking at them with a serious expression. He glanced over to Lea who was also looking at him from the corner of the eyes. They looked at her again with furrowed brows._

_"Check this out, Lea," Isa said, leaning in a bit to better inspect the strange, little girl._

_She had the oddest shade of violet hair with indigo-like streaks in her bangs, which shaded her amber eyes. It was strange, as he had never seen anyone with such a hair color as this before._

_"Punk," he spit down at her, "who do you think you are?" She didn't shrink under that, which made Isa smirk. "Just what makes you think that Chocobo is not gonna win, huh?"_

_Lea was looking to and from his friend to the girl. She didn't seem much younger than them, but the size difference was clear. But what had him puzzled was how confident she seemed, standing up to Isa. Isa was scary when he wanted to be. He would puff himself up to look twice his size and fix you in that heart-wrenching glare that just sent shivers down your spine and the hairs on your arms stand on end._

_And she didn't even flinch._

Miya furrowed her brows up at the blue haired boy, who was towering above her. Her face twisted into a perplexed expression, and then settled back to her serious expression. The young girl had never come across another child to have such a harsh attitude, and she wondered what his friend beside him saw in his blue haired friend.

In Miya's own opinion, the boy seemed ridiculous and strange.

"You are a very strange boy." she commented with an indignant edge. "I am not a 'punk', you are in this case. And I am Miya, I know I am Miya so I don't think I am anyone else." she said all matter-of-factly.

She then blinked up at the boy and then over to the red haired one who stood watching his friend and herself. Turning her attention back to the boy in front of her, Miya tilted her head to the side and continued.

"The reason your chosen Chocobo won't win the race is because he is one; to young and immature, more prone to show off and get prideful and two; his body is not all shaped right to be a fast runner. His legs are far too short and his ankles are huge with a small set of talons. Any Chocobo experienced individual would be able to see quite clearly that spring chicken is not a winner."

Miya paused and waited for his response, noting how blue his hair was, she'd never seen such strange hair... not to mention style. Slightly swept back and up at the top of his head while the rest of it hung down the sides and back of his head... it looked very shaggy. A grinned cracked on her expression as she noticed the boy must really like the color blue, for his t-shirt was nearly the same color as his locks.

_They turned around and stared at their Chocobo choice with tilted heads. Lea looked at Isa to see his jaw set with stubbornness as he saw the little girl's statements to be true. He slowly swivelled his head back to her, his stern look making Lea give mental kudos to the girl-Miya was her name- for stepping up to the plate and defending herself from Isa's icy wrath. Isa's anger wasn't even aimed at him and he could sense the coldness of it._

_Lea was shocked when a twisted grin suddenly formulated upon his friend's face. Isa began slowly, "Uh-huh? So, which one would you pick, then? Since you seemed to be the expert here "_

_The flame-haired one reverted his gaze back to Miya, trying to mentally mull over why Isa had suddenly switched moods so swiftly. Something must be concocting in that brilliant mind of his. Something about this girl was making him tick with some sort of new, crazy plan._

_As far as things had went between him and Isa, he wasn't so sure if this was going to be a good thing or a bad thing_

Miya shook her head, rolled her eyes and gave a dramatic sigh. "Please... Step aside..." she said making a shooing motion with her hand.

The blue haired boy twitched and stepped out of her way, crossing his arms and smirking down at her. Miya merely ignored the look and walked over to the chained fence and leaned against it, inspecting the pen of Chocobo's.

For a few minutes she was quiet, then gave a snort and moved over to the other pen of the older Chocobo's. Miya then began to grin and pointed.

"That one, back in the corner. His body has the right shape for the air to rush past smoothly when running extremely fast. His legs are strong, with the ankles and knee's the right size that matches his taloned feet. With a body and set of feet like that, it should be quite a winner." She said looking over her shoulder at the two boys.

_Isa observed her pick with a satisfied grin, moving to stand next to her. He peered at the Chocobo to confirm her facts, nodding with approval. Lea watched as Isa turned towards him, his face smug._

_"Well?" Lea questioned._

_"You heard the lady!" Isa barked happily. "That one it is!"_

_Lea looked over Isa's shoulder to the girl, who seemed quite pleased with herself for impressing them like so. With a heavy sigh, he shoved his hands into his pockets. "Alright, if you say so."_

_Isa leaned in to his ear, jerking his head slightly towards Miya. "Man, if she's right with this, who knows what she could do someplace else? This might be our chance, Lea! Let's let her stick around with us for a bit. Perhaps some good will come out of it."_

_There was a bit of silence from Lea before he shrugged. "You're the boss."_

_Isa turned on his heels to face the girl. "Say How about you come with us to watch the race? Then we'll see if you're really right about that one." He pointed to the Chocobo tacked in violet reigns and pads._

Miya turned and looked back at the pen of the ten Chocobos', brown eyes appraising each giant, glossy golden bird. She mulled the idea of going with these two boys over in her mind. Thing was, she had told her papa that she would be in this tent with the Chocobos, and had never said anything about going to the race. Miya worried if she went with the boys then her papa wouldn't know where she was and then become worried.

She turned around and looked at the two boys. "Well... I dunno... I kinda..."

There was a loud whooping sound that interrupted Miya's sentence. Down at the far end of the tent, three shadows appeared on the other side of the tent.

So it seemed this trio was attempting to get into the back of the show tent with Racers, and Miya looked a bit worried that it might be some workers who tended to the birds. But her worries seemed to be for not when three boys walked through a flap in the tent.

The group consisted of a small spiky black haired boy, a lanky short red haired boy, and a tall, toned, blonde haired guy that seemed closer to guy than boy.

Looking at the boys beside her she saw them stiffen and frown. The young girl looked confused by the expressions on all five's faces. They all looked very displeased to see each other. Isa and the blonde haired one both crossed their arms over their chests and glared at each other. The blonde looked far more intimidating because of his physical appearance compared to the blue haired boy beside her.

"Well lookie here boys, if it ain't our two little pals... the Dynamic Delinquents! " the boy said with a strange drawl Miya had never heard before.

"Hmpf..." said the red head "remember what we talked about before, Cid... no need to draw unnecessary blood. These twerps aren't worth it."

"Yeah, Reno's right Cid. Let's just check out the Racers and go make some bids." the black haired boy said looking up at the two elder.

Miya had moved to stand behind a nearby barrel, not wanting to be noticed and felt a bit awkward standing there. From her safe place she could really get a look at the three new comers. The black haired boy wasn't much bigger than the blue and red haired boy's she'd just become acquainted with, which meant he wasn't much older than them. All three wore sneakers, jeans and t-shirts, each sporting their own color. The two older had a set of goggles resting on their heads, and the blonde had a toothpick held between his teeth.

Standing beside her barrel she watched the three boys walk over to her boys, all of them staring down at them.

"So..." the blonde... or Cid, "which 'ere bird are ya fella's betting to win eh?"

_Isa huffed and spat in his cold tone, "None of your business."_

_Lea gave the three of them a witheringly glare. For the most part his gaze was focused in on the other red-headed boy, who was indeed much taller than him. They seemed to regard each other with mixed emotions, though Reno grinned at his nasty frown._

_"Tut, tut," Reno clucked at the little Lea. "You know it's impolite to stare."_

_Isa's hand pressed to Lea's chest as the boy tried to step forward to defend himself and snap back with a retort and possibly with his fists. _

_Cid gave a dry chuckle, sweeping his eyes over them. He stopped smiling when come thing caught his attention. "Hey Who's the plum?" _

_The black haired child peered behind their rivals and paced to sidle up at Cid's side to try and get a better view. Cid pushed him away with a quick shove of his leg._

_Isa whirled to look and see Miya hovering around the other side of a feed barrel._

_"Dude, Zack, there's this thing called personal space-"_

_"Oh, I see now!" Zack suddenly cried, tugging on the eldest's pant leg again. "It's a girl!"_

_Reno's smirk broadened. "Well what do we have here, hm? New recruit to meet out numbers, Isa? Is that the best you could find? A little girl?"_

_The whole lot of older boys broke out into a chorus of laughter as The two other boys puffed up with red angry faces._

Miya felt her cheeks redden by the unwanted attention she now found herself the center of. She shuffled her feet and walked out from behind the barrel with her hands clasped behind her back standing a few feet away from the group of boys.

"I'm not little..." she said digging a toe into the dirt. "I'm a big girl.. I'm six!"

Miya held one hand up; all five boys began to laugh hysterically. "Wow... really? That looks more like a 5 to me." Reno said slapping his knee.

Rolling her eyes at her mistake she lifted her other hand with one finger held up. "Whatever... I'm still 6." She then turned to look at the older red haired boy. "What do you mean recruit? I'm just looking at the Chocobos."

_"Ah, is that how it is?" Reno said, still smiling. He looked down to Isa who was still boiling to their presence. "Well, I suppose that I should've known better. Isa wouldn't dare let anyone in his ranks that was smarter than him."_

_Cid and Zack began to laugh all over again, making the little blue-haired boy's jaw drop; his face looking like it just got slapped. It was Lea's turn to hold him back as he reached out to take a swing at one of them. _

_"Easy, Isa!" Lea hissed, reining his companion back._

_"Let me go! Let me punch him, Lea, let me punch him!"_

_As much as Lea would love to see Reno get his face socked in, he was well aware of Cid hovering back there with his thick arms and full, bulky build. If he were to come in then they would be definite goners. _

_While Isa cooled his jets, Cid looked at Reno with a sudden nod towards the Chocobo pen. Reno grinned back at him and looked over the barred fence, his arms resting along the wooden plank at the top. "Which one, Cid?" he asked. _

_Zack gave Miya a final look before running up to squeeze in next to Reno. "I like the blue one," he said happily._

_Reno glanced down at him before humming to himself thoughtfully. "I 'unno," he said after a moment. "That red one looks pretty nice Doesn't have any gray around the eyes, so he's definitely a spring chick from last year. Got a lot of youthful energy, wouldn't you say?"_

_Isa, now finally settled, looked at the red tacked Chocobo, realizing it was the one he had been going to pick before Miya came along. He looked over his shoulder at her, and she was starting to walk over to the group of older boys to evaluate their pick and criticize it. He grabbed her arm and tried to keep her rooted there._

_"Shh," he hissed softly as she gave him a strange look. "Don't let them know about ours!"_

_Lea nodded avidly in reply when Miya looked to him next for guidance._

Miya just shrugged and settled to stand next to the two boys, just listening to their conversation about which Chocobo to pick. She pried her arm away from the blue haired boy... Isa was what his friend, Lea, had called him.

She gave a sour, indignant look to Isa, sidling closer to Lea. The young girl was puzzled by these new events, not sure what to make of them. Except that it was her first time interacting with anyone outside the castle... and kids to top it off.

"So... why don't you guys get along with them?" she whispered up to Lea with a confused look. The 6 year old couldn't understand why the boys were fighting; all of them hadn't said a nice thing to anyone since the three had come to the tent. Well... not all... the black haired boy seemed to have ignored Lea and Isa, his attention either her or the Chocobos.

Lea bent down and whispered in her ear, giving a shrug. "We're rival's... everything we do they're always not far behind... and sometimes we do the same thing."

Miya looked at him with a raised eyebrow, still confused. "Why?"

The red head chuckled "It's a boy thing you could say."

"Oh..."

"Do you understand now?"

She shook her head "Nope. It's silly in my opinion... But I am a girl and I don't think girls and boys really understand each other so I guess it's okay." she said not whispering now.

_Lea shook his head at her and stared back at the other boys. Cid walked over next to Reno, peering over the fence. "Yeah, that red one looks nice," he stated. "Seems like a good pick."_

_"Of course it is," Reno said in a prideful tone, puffing his chest broadly._

_Zack looked up at the two of them with a strange expression. He seemed to be ready protest their choice, because his heart had been set on that blue-tacked one. But, he sighed in defeat, complying and respecting their decision in silence._

_The other two turned around, fixing Lea and Isa into a smug glare. "We'll see you two lads in the ring," Cid hissed in that husky tone of his. "Hope you guys have your pay from last year too."_

_The lot of them chuckled among themselves and walked out of the tent, their voices fading into the cacophony of the festival. Isa growled under his breath, seething alongside Lea._

_"Stupid bunch," Lea grounded out. "Can't believe they picked out that one."_

_Isa suddenly scoffed with a smirk. "Well, they should've known better than to go with what Reno says, of all people. Really, it's Reno. Reno's an idiot." _

_They seemed to radiate with a type of self-satisfaction for quite a long time before Isa suddenly remembered his question to Miya from before. He wheeled around to make sure she was still there- which she was- and then repeated his question, "Hey, you coming with us to watch the race or not?"_

Miya tilted her head to the side, and looked at the boy with a quizzical look. "But... I don't even know you two," she said raising her hands in the air and giving an exasperated sigh.  
The two boys looked like a light switched on inside their heads, for their moths dropped open in an 'o' of surprise.

"Well..." said the blue haired boy. "I'm Isa... And this is my partner in crime, Lea. Better remember it, girl."

Miya huffed, "Don't call me 'girl'... My names Miya, and you better keep it straight." she said with a nod of her violet head.

"Yeah, yeah, Miya. We've got it memorized! Make sure you commit our names to memory okay?" Lea said with a cocky grin.

The little girl giggled at Lea and nodded "I'll make sure I get it memorized, Lea." she said smiling brightly.

Isa gave a loud sigh and rolled his eyes. "So, ya coming or not, Miya?"

After a few silent seconds Miya nodded her head. "Yes... I would like that."

_The two boys smiled with relief. They spun on their heels, dashing off towards the tent flap marked as the exit. "C'mon, Miya!" Isa called over his shoulder as she did not follow right away. They soon heard the patter of her feet chasing after them. _

_The crowds around the track, which was not very far from the Chocobo pen, was dense with many people, their eyes riveted to the field, waiting anxiously for the race to begin. Chatter engulfed the ears of the children, most of it meaningless adult talk. _

_The boys were ecstatic to have a new companion at their side. They began showing her how they did things. _

_"Alright," Isa began, taking the position of leader. "You see those big guys over there?" _

_The other to kids nodded. _

_"Well, they're placing bets on whose gonna win." _

_Lea chimed in merrily,__"Well we're going to bet too, and get rich off it and live in a nice house and everything, right Isa?" _

_Isa seemed to deflate slightly to Lea stealing his thunder. With a small roll of his eyes, he answered with a sigh, "That's right. If that bird wins, anyway." He gave Miya pointed look._

Miya looked around the stands area with wide amber eyes, taking in the site of seeing so many people in one place at one time. To a small child like Miya the site was more than huge... it was gigantic!

She diligently followed Lea and Isa through the crowd and listened as they began to educate her in their daily routines. Miya was quite fascinated with the things the two boys were showing her, and she was happy to see that they didn't seem to think she was a nuisance.

It made her smile remain plastered on her face.

"Alright," Isa began, taking a down-to-business tone. "You see those big guys over there?"

Miya nodded her head, looking in their direction.

"Well they're placing bets on whose gonna win."

Lea chimed in merrily, "Well we're going to bet too, and get rich off it and live in a nice house and everything, right Isa?"

Isa seemed to deflate slightly to Lea stealing his thunder. With a small roll of his eyes, he answered with a sigh, "That's right. If that bird wins, anyway." He gave Miya pointed look.

Miya giggled at Isa. His expressions were something she was finding amusing ever since she'd met him. She'd yet to see the playful fun side of Isa, so she hoped he wasn't always business and schemes, but she had to admit he was quite likable.

"Well, Isa, it's just as plausible that any other Chocobo may win. After all, you can't judge a book by its cover too much. That Chocobo just has a higher chance of winning than any of the others." She said with a shrug

"So... why exactly are you two trying to get rich?" Miya asked curiously. "Don't you two have parents or something to take care of you?"

_The two boys seemed to wilt. They looked off to the sides of each other, shrugging off the question, seemingly. A stressing silence fell over the trio. Not even the loud voices of the people around them were able to make up for it. They didn't look like they were going to answer until Lea muttered under his breath, "What parents?"_

_ Isa kicked at the ground with his foot absent mindedly. "Haven't got any," he said in a soft tone, shaking his head, a nervous gulp sounding from him afterwards._

_Neither seemed willing to expand upon the matter after that. They completely dismissed the event as soon as Isa heard someone boasting about a Chocobo named "Stryker". Their Chocobo, he had noticed before the rival gang had stepped in, was named "Lantine." Eager to get away from Miya's question, he turned abruptly to listen. _

_"That thing was born to win," the man bellowed to one of his buddies. He was sitting on the stands, only a few feet away from the trio of children. Isa turned to the two others, his voice firm. "Stay here. I'm gonna get some riots started and get a few points racked in our favor. Lea, find a good seat. I'll find you two later."_

_Lea watched his friend walk up to the brute, tagging his bet with the famous scoff only Isa could do. He sighed faintly, looking to Miya, who still seemed flustered over the fact that they had no parents, which was true. He and Isa had no family but each other. Sure, they weren't related, but as close as families go, they were all each other had. _

_He didn't really remember his parents. He had been very young, their faces were only a blur now. Isa said the same thing about his. It wasn't any use trying to cling to those faces, the both of them had decided long ago._

_"Remembering won't save us from starving to death or put shelter over our heads!" Isa had told him that once. He told him that whenever he brought up the topic of parents or family. The saying that Isa had hammered into his skull rang deeply as he looked at Miya. She didn't seem to understand. Her face was distraught and her eyes wide. _

_He was used to that look. Got it at school a lot when other kids found out. At least, when he went to school, which was only the first and last day. Seldom did they ever go throughout the year, and when they did, it was only because Isa had heard something interesting was going to happen there on that particular date._

Miya hung her head and fiddled with her hands, not even paying much attention as she rocked back and forth. Attempting to hide the dismayed expression on her face, and conceal her saddened amber eyes.

'N-no parents?' she thought sadly, 'that must be horrible...' Her young mind found it difficult to wrap around that concept and it made her shudder.

She jumped when she felt a strong hand fall on her shoulder and she peeked up slowly to see Lea standing in front of her, one hand on her shoulder and the other waving in front of her eyes.

"Yo, Miya! Snap out of it! Don't dwell on it, 'kay? It would just be awkward." Lea said with a heartened smile, which she couldn't tell if it was true or false.

"Okay," she said timidly, her rocking and fidgeting ceasing.

"Come on, let's go get seats. We want to get some good ones so we can see your prize bird win," he said taking her hand in his and leading her through the crowd.

Miya followed after him, sticking close to his side so that she wouldn't lose him amongst all these people. They soon found a spot in the benches up on one of the higher stands, and they sat down together and waited for Isa to return.

_Lea seemed a lot better knowing that Miya was more at ease now. It wouldn't do good to have her so stunned. He kicked at the metal bleacher in front of him, emerald eyes seeming blank. He stared up at the track, huffing when he didn't see any jockeys. _

_Crossing his arms, he sat back. "Man, when are they going to start this thing already?" he thought aloud, sounding aggravated. He pouted there for a few moments, his brows drawn together in a "V". It wasn't long after he said that when he saw Isa struggling past a horde of people to reach them. _

_He was soon standing in front of the two children, panting. "Geez, it's gotten crowded," he noted with emphasis. "Nothing like last year " _

_Lea's eyes brightened. "How much cash did you rack up?" _

_"Well," Isa drawled; "if ours win, we'll have around two thousand munny from that Cid will owe us big time " He shrugged. "But I also got door-prize ticket, just in case. And a few-" _

_"Peel tickets?" Lea finished in a growl. _

_Isa gave a weak grin. "You never know " _

_Lea let the topic drop suddenly, his arms becoming limp in his lap. "Two thousand that's enough to get us some good food to last a month Or three, even " _

_"I know," Isa agreed heartily. "And maybe get a few extra things paid off too."_

Miya looked at the two boys, admiration shining in her eyes at them, a smile spread across her little face. The little girl was impressed with these two young boys, not but a few years older than she was, and they seemed so... well independent and free. She wondered what it would be like to spend a day in their shoes.

She was silent as the two boys conversed about what they were going to use their hopeful winnings for, watching the track and the people in the crowd. Miya stood on top of her seat next to Lea, taking in the sites. She was attempting to see if she could find the three boys from earlier, and maybe even her father if he'd come to the race.

Miya spotted the boys easily, they were down by the track itself, the small black haired one sitting on the fence while the two older ones leaned against it. The eldest seemed to be in an intense conversation with a man. 'Must be making bets as well...' she mused sitting down in her seat.

_Isa took his seat next to Lea, squirming in place with child-like impatience. He and his companion alike muttered about the race not starting on time, as there seemed to be an hour delay to them when in reality only about five minutes had past. _

_Fuse shortening, the fire suddenly simmered out and left when they saw the racing Chocobos and their respective riders enter the track and head to the starting gate. They stood up, trying to get a better view. Lea turned and tugged on Miya's wrist, "There's ours!" he exclaimed, pointing to the far end of the row of gates. _

_Isa seemed to fluff up with anticipation. "I swear, that bird had better win, 'cause for once, I'd like to go home with a pocketful of money and some things to gloat over and hang over them guys' heads!" He nodded towards the group of rivals at the fence, his lips rising in a snarl of disdain. _

_An announcer came over the loud speakers, rattling off the names of the birds, their jockeys and their numbers. The three of them rooted and squealed when they heard their own, Lantine, a handful of other people in the stands doing the same, as it was their pick too. _

_Then everything fell quiet. Everyone's eyes were riveted on the gate, watching the gigantic birds shuffle and cluck quietly at the end of the stretch. Everyone there seemed to draw in a breath, waiting. _

_The sound of a loud trumpet peeled across the field and the gates let open, a flurry of pounding feet kicking into the dirt roaring into sudden existence. The whole crowd cheered, bellowing encouragement to their chosen team. At last, the race had begun._

The three children sat on the edge of their seat as the race began, and the ten Chocobos blew through the starting gate and glided down the track. The first one out of the gate was a green tacked Chocobo named Jak, and it was fast. But soon Jak was over taken by Stryker and a brown tacked bird whose name was Glee.

Their Chocobo, the one Miya had praised for its shape, was on the far outside and about 8th in the race at that moment as they turned the first of four turns. Lea, Isa and Miya's gaze went between Lantine and Stryker, fingers crossed and breath's held in painfully as Lantine began to move up in the race.

Lantine was 5th coming around the second turn, and Stryker was 1st.

Everyone's attention was caught when Jak and Glee rammed into each other on the second turn, both birds and jockey's flying into a frenzy as they tried to remain upright. But there was no stopping the catastrophe and the remaining seven birds behind them seemed to have no hope of getting around.

But it was a miracle. Somehow Lantine and another Chocobo, blue tack named Sky, leapt and flew over the toppling birds.

Miya jumped up and yelled out in joy, the two boys staring awestruck by the fact their prize bird hadn't gotten out of the race.

Now it was the third turn, and Stryker was in 1st, Glee had fallen to 3rd and Lantine had burst into 2nd, Sky in 4th.

As the four birds rounded the fourth turn, Lea and Isa were clinging to each other's arms, stone stiff as they watched Latine and Stryker run for the finish line neck and neck.

They passed through the finish line! The announcer over the speakers proclaimed Lantine had won by a hair's breath! The crowd began to go wild and the two boys were standing there blinking dumbfounded.

Miya stood there watching them, giggling and squealing in joy.

_Shock tore open on both of their faces. They were still clinging to each other's arms, mouths dropped down, completely speechless. As the last of Miya's giggles faded away, a sudden grin slowly spread onto Lea's face and the commotion of the crowd got to him. He sprung up, releasing Isa's hold on him and shouted, "We did it! We won!" He turned to Miya. His face lit up like the sun. He didn't know what else to say. He turned back around to Isa, completing a full rotation, and pulled him to his feet. "We won, Isa! We won!" _

_"We won " Isa murmured, still stricken. He sat there in disbelief, staring at the track, looking like a zombie. Lea slapped him on the back. _

_"Yo, earth to Isa " he hollered amusedly, "Did a zombie eat your brains while we were watching the race? Seriously dude, get a hold of yourself!" _

_It took a few moments to register, but when it did, he smirked with a snicker passing under his nose. "Tch. Well I'll be." He turned to stare at Lea, his eyes bright. "So we won." _

_"You bet we won!" Lea said, laughing as he realized the irony. He turned again to Miya and pulled her in between the two of them. "And it's all thanks to this one!" _

_Isa clapped her shoulder as she was reeled over. They basked in their victory for a few minutes, squealing over the pile drives and how close the other Chocobo had been to winning. Then Isa swung his head down and smiled._

_"Hey, Lea. I got a job for you." The red-head looked up. "Huh?" Isa pointed down to the fence where Cid, Reno, and Zack still stood, as dumbfounded as they had been moments ago. _

_"Rub it in. I got to go collect our earnings." _

_And with another grateful look cast Miya's way, Isa rushed down the stands to meet with those that he had bet against_

Both Miya and Lea watched Isa disappear into the crowd, once he was out of their sight the two looked at each other. Lea began to beam as he looked at the crazy little girl beside him. She'd been right, and for it they would be able to get some weight off their shoulders.

"So, ready to go humbly enlighten our friends from earlier that we won?" he said with a smirk looking at the group of boys down by the track.

Miya tilted her head to the side, a pondering look on her face, remembering how the two older had been a bit mean to her new friends. She nodded after a few moments.

"Sure," she said, following Lea through the crowd and taking his wrist in her hand and staying close.

They moved past the people attempting leave the stands, collecting bets from others, and those just staying to avoid the rush. It wasn't easy, but Lea had grabbed her wrist now, and his grip was stronger than hers.

Soon enough they reached the group of boys. Miya saw that the older two, Cid and Reno, where having a heated discussion. The black haired one, Zack if she remembered correctly was leaning against the fence watching the Chocobos in the distance, ignoring his friends.

"Hey don't feel bad, you two. You guys should know you can't always win. There's always next year," Lea said butting into their shouts.

"Although if you have Reno choose again you guys might fail every single time."

_Reno sputtered to the insult, looking to Cid as if for permission to hit the child. Cid only stood there, glaring coldly down at Lea, his crossed arms hugged to his chest tightly. The tall teen rumbled, "You got lucky that's all. It's the first time you've ever won anyway. Don't rest on your laurels." _

_Lea wasn't too sure what "laurels" meant, but he shrugged it off, gloating, "Just luck, eh? Well, I bet if you knew anything about Chocobo's, you would've seen that your pick had much too stubby ankles for winning any race." He elbowed Miya softly as he repeated what she had told them about their pick._

_ Reno looked over his shoulder to stare at the field, seeing the red tacked Chocobos pecking at the ground where his rider had spread some rewarding feed. He looked back to Lea and snarled to himself, cursing under his breath. _

_Cid only rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He shifted through his pocket suddenly and brought out a wallet, flipping through its contents. He brought out a handful of coins and dropped it into Lea's open palm. "There. That's all I have on me right now. We'll have Zack send the rest over later, right Zack?" _

_The ebony-haired child raised his head, as if just realizing that his companions had stopped bickering. He sighed, "Okay, sure." Nodding to Lea he said to him, "I'll stop by tomorrow, a little before noon." _

_"And if you're not there, we keep the money," Reno chimed in with a puff of his chest. Cid pushed his shoulder in disagreement. _

_"Naw, naw, these lads won fair and square. We give them what they've earned." His blue eyes met Lea's and his gave a solemn dip of his head before spinning on his heels and stuffing his hands into his pockets. "C'mon boys, let's call it a day." _

_Reno gave Lea one more regarding stare before quickly trotting after the elder. Zack pushed himself off the fence and left as well, sticking close between the two. Lea looked back at Miya. _

_"Let's go find Isa," he suggested._

Miya nodded in consent, and moved close to him as they headed back into the crowd. The two heading up the stands to the exit, hoping that along the way or when they reached the top, they could see Isa.

The two walked in happy, blissful silence. Lea kept Miya protectively close as they weeded through the still dense crowd.

Once they got to the top Miya sat down on one of benches, a tired look on her face. Eyes a bit dim with exhaustion from all the excitement. She hoped Isa would return shortly and that perhaps soon she'd find her father and tell him of all the exciting things she did.

_Isa found them quickly afterwards, his face beaming joyously. He ran up to them eagerly, showing the duo a total of four, burlap bags, each fat with coins from different people. He gave two of them to Lea, who hefted and tested their weight experimentally. He was satisfied, and let his palm tighten around the feel of nice solid munny. Both boys were grinning at each other with ecstatic faces. _

_They didn't need words to describe such happiness and they let it soak in for a few, Isa tossing the precious bag in one hand while looking at the dusk-brushed sky. As he did this, he looked at Miya studiously from the corner of his eye, his mouth forming the question aloud, "Hey, do you need to be getting back to your parents soon?" _

_Lea looked at her too and apologized, "Sorry, we're not used to the idea of 'curfew' so if you got one and you need to be somewhere "_

Miya gave a slow nod. "Uhm... yeah," she said answering Isa question.

Standing up she brushed the skirt of her dress off and gave a light shrug "I dunno if I have a curfew... not quite sure what that is anyways." she said puzzled.

"Uhm... Well, a curfew is a time you have to be somewhere before one gets in trouble... or at least that's what some of the kids at school say. If they're late for their curfew their parent's ground them." Lea said rubbing his neck and taking her hand.

"So where are your mom and dad? Isa and I will escort you home." He said with a cheery grin.

Miya walked with the two out of the stands, and headed toward Fountain Square, were she informed them she had left her father. As they passed the park Miya watched the families, looking at them with a puzzled expression. For the first time Miya noticed that some children had two parents instead of one. And she was puzzled that they had more than just a father.

She wondered why they had a woman with them... was that what Lea had called a 'mom'?

_Isa trailed on the other side of Miya, his mouth pursed as his turquoise eyes examined Lea from a glance. With a huff, he rolled his eyes and lolled his head to the opposite direction on the others. Lea's kindness was going to kill him one day; Isa swore it under his breath. The kid just had a knack for helping and Isa worried that someone would take advantage of that someday. _

_They ducked under the arms and legs of the taller pedestrians, nearly crashing into rolling stands of goodies and treats. As much as both boys wanted to stop and get some with their new munny, they resisted and refocused on getting Miya back to her family. _

_The town square suddenly became visible from between the gaps of buildings and arches. By the time they got there, it was night and the colorful lamps were what illuminated the rainbow pavement. The splashes of color reflected and bounced off of the fountains, their water droplets lit like mini disco balls. _

_Isa sidled up close to his group, leaning over to say to Miya, "Do you see your mom or dad anywhere?"_

Miya breathed in deeply as she took in the warm, evening spring air and the lovely lights that were cast all over the place by the lanterns. Her tired little eyes glowed at the sight. After sufficiently taking in the lovely view Miya turned her attention to looking for her father.

She smiled when she saw both the figures of her father, and of Braig sitting on the edge of Fountain Square's main center fountain.

"PAPA!"

Miya jumped on her feet, waved her hand and then ran towards her father. As soon as she reached him she threw her arms around his legs and hugged him.

"WHOA! Miya! Hello, my dear! I was beginning to wonder where you were, and I was starting to worry," Ansem said picking her up and setting her in his lap.

"I'm sorry, Papa, but I've had-" she stopped mid-sentence and yawned "-such an exciting evening! I've made some friends, Papa!" Miya turned and looked at the two boys. "Papa, meet my friends Lea and Isa."

_The two boys stared wide eyed at the tall man which Miya had embraced. Their mouths swung out on rusty hinges. They mouthed like fish, unable to speak. It took a while, but eventually, Isa was able to squeak, "K-King A-Ansem!" _

_They fell on their hands and knees, begging for mercy and other nonsense. After a bit, Lea poked his head up slightly and stared at Miya, his eyes still large and round. _

_"Your dad is the king!" "You never told us that!" Isa joined in with a hiss, giving her a withering glare. "At the least you should've given us a warning!" _

_For the whole time they had been worshiping their king, all had been silent, save for the festivities surrounding them. Then, slowly, a soft chuckle began to vibrate through the air, crescendo-ing from that to wild laughter. The boys looked over to see the dark-haired man sitting on the fountain slapping his knee and busting a gut. He nearly had tears coming out of his eyes. _

_"Ha, ha- I'm sorry, but I just can't- ha, ha, ha-oh, these two are just so funny!" the man tried to stifle his laughter, but when he saw that it was impossible, he only laughed more._

Miya blinked at the boys, obviously confused by the current situation and not understanding it at all. She looked between her father, Braig, and the two boys with confused, amber eyes. "Uhh... is it a big deal?" she asked quietly.

She turned and looked up at her father. "Papa, is it important that you're the King? And what's a King anyways?"

Ansem looked uncomfortable, with the boys on the ground looking like fools, Braig laughing hysterically, and Miya asking the question's he'd never really had intended to tell her. He supposed that he should've seen this day coming when she'd find out, but he'd hoped it would have been later than sooner. Having this knowledge of him being the King and thus making her the Princess... well he thought she'd feel alienated from other kids and never feel normal because of the titles.

But it's not like he could get out of it now.

"Well a king is a protector, and basically you could say is like a father to a large populated area. I'm the King of Radiant Garden's, dear. It is a bit important, but perhaps you should wait till you're a bit older to understand what it all really means." He explained, trying to shorten this explanation as much as possible and make her forget her question.

Miya sat there looking more confused than ever.

"I still don't understand, Papa..." she said with a distressed tone. "You're not any different from anyone else right?"

Ansem shrugged. "Well... I am a little bit... but not much. My job is just to watch out for all of Radiant Gardens as is my job and great pleasure to raise you." He said patting the top of her violet head.

"So... then why are Lea and Isa acting like they're having seizure?" Miya said looking over at them concerned.

_With reverence and awe still in their eyes the boys gaped at her. Isa pointed up to Ansem. "He's the king! He governs the fate of our future!" _

_Lea nodded and continued for Isa, "Yeah, and he invents stuff for us to make our lives easier and, and " He drew his short brows together trying to think of something else that made Ansem so important. He shook his head vigorously. "He's the highest point on the pyramid of social class " _

_The two boys eyes dimmed slightly as their heads drooped in shame. "And we're on the lowest." It was Isa who said it, and his voice croaked as he did. _

_Braig's laughter had died down into what looked like him biting his lip so he wouldn't burst out again._

Miya still looked utterly confused, and it was all over her face. From the "O" shape of her mouth, to her eyes wide and puzzled. "Uhm... social pyramid?" she asked looking up at her father.

Ansem sighed and pulled Miya up onto his lap. "Oh Miya, don't worry about it, you'll understand when you're older."

"But Papa, I want to understand now! I feel, well, very clueless and... well..." she looked at Lea and Isa. "I want to understand what my friends are saying."  
Ansem sighed and rubbed his hand over his face. "Alright, Miya, let me see... It's true that as King, which also makes you a princess, we are well, over everyone in Radiant Garden's. Braig is somewhere in the middle I would suspect... and these two boys..." he looked down at the two. "Need a bit of a reality check for one... but two... they are a bit lower... but social status doesn't affect us. As King, I have some responsibilities that mean I have to take my role seriously, but you and I are just like anyone else. I promise."

He set Miya down and looked between her and the two boys. "So, Miya... you don't need to worry about it. The boys are just a bit... shocked..."

Miya grinned and went over to Lea and Isa. "Did you hear that? It doesn't matter! I don't care I hope you guys don't!" she said happily.

_As Isa dared to glower at Ansem for speaking for their emotions, Lea piped up, "No Miya, we don't mind at all." He glanced at Isa and elbowed him in the gut to return his attention to the current situation. Yelping, the smaller child looked up at Miya. _

_"Oh, right, of course not," he laughed, shooting Lea a glare as a silent promise that he'd take revenge on him later. _

_Miya beamed, happy that they had agreed to accept her even though she was a princess. _

_The two boys slowly got back up on their feet, brushing themselves off from having groveled in the pavement. Limited people were found in the square, as most of them had begun to depart back to their homes. Braig seemed to take notice of this._

_"Hey, it's pretty late," he muttered to Ansem. With a short turn of his head he looked down at the boys, his sharp features suddenly appearing intimidating in the dimmed lighting. "You two should probably find your own parents." _

_They snorted, crinkling up their noses in a snarl. Lea looked away and Isa's gaze turned venomous._

Miya turned, and crossed her arms, a displeased dark expression on that usually happy glittering face of hers. She tapped her foot on the ground in a constant metronome. Her steely gaze focused on Braig.

"They don't have parent's Braig, they're independent citizen's of Radiant Garden's and don't need to worry about curfew. They make their own rules and live however they like." She said with a solid nod of her head.

"Also they are very brave," she said proudly.

Ansem absorbed this news quietly, watching Braig out of the corner of his eye, and the boys and Miya out of the other. So the first time she was able to make friends Miya somehow managed to befriend two young orphan boys. Boys in general were mischief... but boys with no structure or authority. Ansem wasn't entirely sure he wanted to encourage such... well, idea's and way of living into his daughter's life.

But... he couldn't see how it would hurt. Perhaps the boys would benefit having Miya in their lives.

_The two children looked a little put off with having their history revealed in such a rash manner, but didn't protest in any way. Despite this, they caught the shock and tipped expressions of the adults, which made their faces etch deeper into displeased expressions. _

_Isa was the one to say, "We'll go home when we feel like it." His tone was audaciously defiant._

_ Braig lifted his chin, studying the little ones from the length of his nose. "I don't know, sir " he addressed to Ansem. "Maybe I should interrogate them." It was hard to tell if he was being sarcastic or not. _

_"Interra-what?" Lea asked, whispering into Isa's ear. The other boy shrugged, also confused._

Ansem had a thoughtful look on his face, rubbing his chin as he became deep in thought about many things dealing with these two boys. As a father of his own daughter he knew how close she could have had the same fate as Lea and Isa. As a father he felt a pain in his heart for these two boys and wished to do something to help them.

But he knew as the King he couldn't go and do something over the top, because then if the other citizen's noticed well they would expect more occurrence of the 'amazing'. Ansem wasn't particularly sure he wanted to take on such a responsibility; his focus was more on his invention to help the people, not doing something himself to help them.

That wasn't his strong area.

"Hmm...I think that might be a bit over the top Braig," he said with a chuckle. "I think they're just fine."

Miya gave a solid nod of her head, a fire gleaming in her eyes. "Yeah... you're not going to question them... after all, Papa said that our differences didn't matter"

_Braig looked miffed. "I didn't- I was just kidding!" _

_Isa turned his head and sniffed, glancing at the king, "I don't need to be questioned on my social adequateness. Just because we're orphans doesn't mean we're bad kids."_

_ Lea seemed to be thoroughly confused by Isa's terminology. "Can you cut out the big word?" _

_"I thought adequateness was two words." _

_As they muttered to themselves, debating on how many words "adequateness" was, Ansem and Braig studied them. When their hushed conversation ended with Isa winning their private debate, Ansem emitted a long sigh. "I didn't mean to indicate that you two were bad children, not at all it's just that Miya hasn't had anyone to play with that was her age and I think she really needs some friends right about now in this time of her life."_

_ Isa snapped to alertness. "And you want us ?" _

_Ansem nodded. "If you don't mind." _

_A sudden glint came to Isa's bright eyes and his mouth curved into a sneer. "I think we can help each other out, Your Majesty " _

_The king quirked his brow. "Oh? How so?" Isa pressed his fingertips together in a business-like manner. "Well, sir, in all honesty, my colleague and I" he glanced to Lea, "as orphans, we don't fare off too well. We live in a little apartment-like house at the edge of the city that we actually do not own ourselves. We have to pay rent. Rent, I might add, we can't afford. And since we're kids, we're not allowed to get decent paying jobs, because even if we tried, they'd send us to the orphanage where Lea and I would be split up to families we don't even know. Also, if we get evicted from our home, the same could happen, or worse if we refused to return to the orphanage even under the threat of starvation." At this point he paused, waiting for Ansem to let everything sink in. "My idea is this, sir: we'll buddy-up with Miya here and show her the ropes to town and all, get her acquainted with the civilians, meet some other kids But in return, you owe Lea and me a little something " The boy rubbed his thumb and finger together in front of his face, indicating that he wanted something cash-like. _

_Lea gawked at him, mouthing for him to stop while shaking his head._

Ansem quirked an eyebrow at the boy, a fairly impassive expression on his face. 'This boy is a genius...' the mused to himself. Mentally Ansem was chuckling; the amusement of the situation was on a huge scale.

This blue haired nine-year old had some guts to make such a proposition to him. He had the persuasive tone of a serious business man, lawyer and perhaps even an extortionist done to a tee. And Ansem was highly impressed by the display.

The kid would make a good politician or ambassador someday.

"Well, I see no reason why not to except your proposal, young man." Ansem said putting his hands in his pockets and squaring his broad shoulders. "If you boys take care of Miya out here, and help educate her in the life of normal children you won't have to worry about rent till you boys become of the hirable age. Am I understood?"

_Lea and Isa's jaws dropped. The hirable age in Radiant Gardens was fifteen. That was over five years of free, don't-have-to-worry-about rent. They stared at each other, too excited and dumbfounded for words. At a slug's pace, Isa moved his head back to look up at Ansem, his eyes bulging. _

_"Yes, sir! T-Thank you, sir!" Isa whirled around and gripped Lea tightly by the shoulders, nearly pressing his nose to his. "Lea! Did you hear that! No more rent!" Lea grinned and laughed. Isa pulled away from him, still bamboozled by the acceptance of his negotiation and stared up at Ansem. He didn't know if he should bow down and kiss his shoes or just shake his hand a billion times. _

_"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Lea suddenly screeched, falling back onto his knees, holding up his arms in praise to the king. _

_Isa picked up his friend from the streamer-littered ground and shook him. "What's the matter with you? Have you no dignity?"_

_ "What's dignity?" _

_The wild expression on Isa's face dimmed down. "... I don't know... But you don't have any." _

_Lea frowned. "How do you know I don't have any if you don't know what it is?" _

_Isa shrugged and let one hand slide off of Lea's shoulder, but the other one stayed. "What? Do you have a dignity on you that I don't know about?" When Lea shook his head 'no', Isa sniffed with a pleased smile, "Whatever. I just can't wait to tell that mean rent-guy, Jazz, that we don't need to pay anymore. He's going to be so mad!" _

_His friend nodded and giggled, "And then his face will get all red and funny and he'll start yelling at us and call us 'deranged hooligans' like he always does."_

The two adults stood off to the side, observing the two boys, both with amused gleams in their eyes, whilst Miya sat down on the grass watching.

Ansem noticed his young daughter was fading fast, just like the little flowers did and nodded to Braig. "Braig, do me a favor and escort these boys back to their home and inform their landlord that these lads no longer need to pay rent. Let the man know that any debt they have racked up and will have for the next... hmm... 5 years will be covered by myself. I shall soon have it in writing if he asks if it's a scam or something along those lines."

The King nodded and turned around to pick up Miya, who rested her head on her father's broad shoulder. "I have to get this little flower tucked into bed before she wilts. You're going to have a big day tomorrow with Lea and Isa." he said with a grin.

Ansem then turned to the two boys and nodded. "I thank you both in advance."

_The two children nodded at the King again respectfully, still beaming with the radiance of the sun, even though night had well past over them. Ansem turned with Miya in his arms, guiding her back to the castle. Braig huffed out a breath, his crossed arms suddenly unfurling as he stared down at the two boys. _

_"Well, I don't think we were properly introduced before." Braig cocked his head to the side. "I'm Braig, Miya's appointed bodyguard and babysitter." A small smile spread onto his face as his eyes tapered. "Which means that in the future, I'll probably have to watch you kids too."_

_They shuffled nervously under his ominous expression, looking away sheepishly, and murmuring under their breaths in response. Braig only chortled, "Don't worry, kiddies, I don't bite " With a shrug, he added, "Most of the time, that is." _

_Their gulps only amused him more. He looked over their heads into the darkness. "Well, children, why don't you start walking back to your place and I'll follow." _

_With a very eager spin of his heels, Isa twirled towards the town and paced off, Lea close to follow. Braig easily was able to keep up with their small pace with his long strides. It didn't take long before he was hovering right behind them. Lea hung back and looked up at him with wondrous green eyes._

_"So Do you know a bunch of cool martial art skills or something?" he asked, blinking. _

_Braig stared at him and shrugged. "Not necessarily." _

_"Then how can you guard anything?" _

_He smiled. "I'm the best, most accurate shot in Radiant Gardens, kid. Nothing goes through me before I get it first." _

_Lea seemed mystified and stared ahead of him with a thoughtful expression. Isa's attention seemed to have been grabbed by that little piece of information. "So, if our landlord goes rampant on you, you'll be able to save us?"_

_That earned a hearty laugh from Braig. "Yeah, kid. I'll make sure no evil landlord touches you." _

_"He is evil," Lea muttered._

_Isa nodded. "Yeah, note of advice for you," he began, "Jazz is really, really short tempered. If he starts getting red, run, or look intimidating." Isa rolled his eyes. "The intimidating thing doesn't work for us because we're kids, but we've seen the guy cower in front of the big people." _

_Braig tucked the information into his mind attentively before replying, "I'm sure it'll all go fine." _

_They arrived at the small house, connected to others like all of the houses in Radiant Gardens. There was a rickety-looking door with a window to the side and above it. The boys stopped in front of it. Isa peeked under a mat to pull out a key. They unlocked the door and stared into it's dark depths with blank expressions. Isa turned to Braig as Lea walked in.  
_

_"Jazz lives next door." He nodded to the left, where the next door resided. "Be careful not to get your head bit off." Braig nodded, and before Isa shut the door, the little blue-haired boy said shyly, "Thank you." _

_Then the door squeaked to a clicking shut, leaving Braig staring to the next house. With a sigh, he marched over and knocked on the door, stepping back a few paces with his arms crossed, his face masked with a dark, sinister glare. _

_When the door opened, a slim, short man stood there, his eyes sunken and tired. "What? What do you want?" he growled, taking in his disturber's appearance with a squinted gaze. _

_Braig proceeded to tell the man about Lea and Isa's new rent foundations and how Ansem would be paying it off from now on. As Isa had predicted, the man had become sour and snippy, trying to call it off as a scam. There was a little bit of a disagreement before Braig could settle the conflict with the promise of Ansem's letter arriving within the week to further detail the situation._

_And with that, Jazz departed. Braig stepped away from the house and began tracking his way back. He hadn't gone far when he glanced to the boys' house, only to see the upper curtain flail and ripple when he did. He grinned to himself, stalking off towards his house back near the Fountain's Square. _

_As he approached his own door, key in hand, he couldn't help but sense as though something was watching him. Blinking, he took a quick glance around him, not seeing anything lurking. Then, he tipped his head up, finding it strange that there was a window wide open. Braig blinked at this monstrosity with a sideways look. _

_'That's Zuga's room, isn't it?' _

_He peered up towards the gutters, a form of legs dangling off the edge catching his eye. Braig rolled his eyes and sighed. "You shouldn't be playing on the roof, Swamp Monster. You could trip and fall." _

_He saw her face peer over the edge of the roof. She snorted. "I've had worse things happen." _

_Grinning he only admonished, "Just get inside before I decide to lock you out up there for the night." _

_She smirked and, with amazing speed, was able to swing herself back into her room and shut the windows tight. _

_Braig laughed to himself, peeling open his door and walking inside. He decided to talk to Master Xehanort and report what had happened while he was gone. He was probably peeved yet over how late he had stayed out. But he did get his fair share of information while there, conversing with the king._

Braig walked down the hallway towards the library to see if his master was in there pouring over any of the old tombs he'd acquired. The raven haired man pondered why the old man chose to keep his possessions split like he did; Xehanort lived in two different worlds. Though Master Xehanort spent most of his days with Braig, which he couldn't complain about, the old man had been a prominent figure in his life since he was a kid.

The sage had taught him a lot of useful things, from magic to just knowledge needed to make it through life. Master Xehanort was never a father figure... oh no... But he had been a mentor, and a very good one at that.

He wondered now that the Swamp Monster was part of their little group how things were going to change. Braig was a working man now, which made him feel very grown up. 'Yes... mid-twenties, and finally feeling like an adult... sad but true.' Braig mused to himself as he poked his head into the library.

Sure enough the wizened old man was in there, looking at a book on one of the tables, hunched over like he stood but only sitting.

Braig rapped his knuckles on the door frame, waiting for his master to acknowledge him.

_Master Xehanort flapped his hand in indication of his presence being known. As Braig stopped a few paces behind his master, the old man growled in his rasping voice, "You were gone a long time..." He turned his head away from the book and stared at his apprentice with haughty golden eyes, one of his brows raising slightly. "I hope you weren't enjoying the festivities too much." _

_Braig smirked and went on to reply in playful banter, "Oh yes, sorry! That fishing booth just really gets me to lose track of the time."_

_The old man only grumbled something under his breath. He swivelled back to his book and flipped the page. "I would hope you got some useful information on your excursion, seeing that you've been gone since noon."_

_The younger man shrugged and folded his arms across his chest. "Yeah, I got in a really deep conversation with the king. Good news: I got that job he proposed to me. Gotta babysit his squirt for him and all." He smiled to himself. "And he told me a lot about the castle security and how it operates... Guards got to know this stuff, you know?" He tapped his temple with a finger. When Master Xehanort continued to seemingly tune him out and stare rather fixedly at the scripts in front of him, Braig sighed and continued, "And well, the security is really poor... There are literally no people posted at any gate or door. But, that will change once I start... Apparently, there will be more guards other than me working around the castle, due to the King's concern of the Heartless' sudden appearance."_

_The old man's shoulders shook slightly. "Courtesy of none other than yours truly." His eyes slid towards the other man. "And... there's just something odd about that little girl."_

_His master's ability to get juicy information so quickly never ceased to amaze Braig. "Miya? What about her?"_

_Master Xehanort only shrugged and muttered, "Don't know. There's just something strange going on around her. Keep a very close eye on her, Braig."_

_He grinned. "That's what I'm getting paid to do now, so no worries there."_

_The old man sighed, "Just remember the mission. Learn the walls of that place from the inside out. Befriend the people within those walls. These components will only make it that much easier to take over." His voice steeled suddenly. "We need that lab and its technology." He finally lifted his hand and closed the book abruptly. With a stiffened motion, he stood from the desk and walked out of the room, the book in his hand._

_"So... What should I do now?" he called out as the last of his master's form rounded the corner._

_ "Whatever you please," was the answer he gave._

_Braig stood there as the steps of his master faded up the stairs, mulling over the possibilities. He wasn't quite tired yet (probably still needed to recover from all the excitement), but he was a little hungry, considering that he hadn't gotten much of anything at the festival. Shrugging off other problematic ideas that involved his very dire mission, he headed towards his kitchen, kicking off his boots on the way to relieve his aching feet. _

_The snack of choice was just a small apple. He wasn't in the mood for something fancy. He leaned up against the counter lazily, munching quite contently on the morsel of fruit. He had taken only his third bite when the Swamp Monster suddenly appeared at the foot of the stairs, her face suddenly spreading into surprise. She recovered quickly and shook her head, clearing her throat._

_"I have questions," she said in a rather demanding tone. _

_"And I have answers, though they might not be the ones you're looking for," he said through a mouthful. _

_Zuga gawked at him, seeming confused. She stiffened and cocked her head, ignoring his sarcasm. "Your society... What is your class pyramid?" _

_Braig stared at her blankly. "Uh... What?" _

_She huffed, "How is this place organized? What is the structure that you people classify yourself as?" _

_"You mean like, what social status we have?" he asked, blinking.  
_

_"Yes." She seemed exasperated with him._

_Braig lifted the hand holding his apple. "Well, for starters, we classify our people by how much money they have. I'm in the middle, probably more towards the top-ish. The people with less money are below, and the King is at the very, very top."_

_"Who's on the bottom?" Her accent was still distinguishable, even though Braig could tell she was trying really hard to mask it._

_"The poorest people," was the simple reply he gave._

_Zuga's shoulders slumped down a little. "Is there any difference in class between your men and women?" _

_Braig shook his head. "Nope. Why? Is there in your world?"_

_She nodded slowly, staring vacantly at the wall. Instead of explaining more, she switched over to a new topic. "And those big birds... What do you call them?"_

_He didn't know why she seemed so avid in asking so many questions at this particular point in time, but he answered nonetheless, "Chocobos."_

_Her eyes blinked and she pursed her lips for a brief moment. "Is that your main way of travel? Riding those things?"_

_"That or walking."_

_Sparks of understanding seemed to take root. She nodded again, then her brow furrowed and she looked back at him, as if in utter disbelief. "So there really are no differences between your men and women?"_

_Her persistence on the topic made him laugh. "Yes, Swamp Monster, no differences. It's all fair here."_

_She still looked confused but let it go. Her fingers tapped on the counter in thought and she drunk in all that she had just learned with silence. After a minute she looked up and seemed to finally register her own presence within the room. With a quiet murmur of thanks, she fled back up the stairs on silent feet. _

_Braig waited for the sound of her door clicking shut before pushing himself upright and finishing the rest of his apple. He had a long day tomorrow; might as well get rested up for it. _

_

* * *

**AN3: So tell me what you thought of day 2, what was your fav part, who's your fav new charrie, want to do you think of zuga and miya? do you like the story? any criticism? critique? please tell me!**_


	3. Day 3

_**AN: 'Reaching for the Stars' is a story that focus's on our two OC's Zuga and Miya, beginning before Birth By Sleep. In our RP that is 8 years prior. There is going to be a huge array of characters and alot of the settings and characters are our own take on them.**_

_**Just so you know... Italics are SDL's posts and regular is IPQ's posts**_

_**Also... please don't flame... lots of work has been put into both our characters so they aren't Mary Sue... we love them dearly and we want you guys to love them too.**_

_**WARNING:FOR THOSE WHO KNOW NOTHING OF KINGDOM HEARTS BIRTH BY SLEEP THIS RP MAY CONTAIN FORMS OF SPOILERS FOR YOU! SO DON'T BLAME US FOR A SURPRISE... YOUR WARNED!**_

_**Zuga (c) SandDragonLanayru .com/  
Miya (c) IrishPirateQueen .com/  
Kingdom Hearts (c) Square Enix & Disney**_

_**final fantasy (c) Square Enix**_

_**AN2: Day 3 is finally up, sorry for the wait, cute and fun stuff happens... and the next day will be Day 78... this time skips like KH 358/2, so enjoy... and no you didn't miss anything. Day 78 will be pretty awesome with some new faces... sorry for it taking so long... college life was a pain.**_

* * *

The next morning Braig woke up early, for that day and every day there after he was to be at the castle at 10 am. Stirring from his slumber Braig looked at his bedside clock with bleary, hazy eyes. It read 6 am. He reached over and shut the pulsing alarm off, with a begrudging groan and heaved himself out of bed.

"I hate you so much, 6 am!" Braig said, heading into the bathroom. Turning the cold water on and splashing it on his stubbly face, he went about his morning routine of face shaving, teeth brushing and hair slicking. After he finished Braig headed down the stairs 20 minutes later, well groomed and dressed for the day.

He pondered over his duties as he put a pot of coffee on and sat down in one of the stools.

'There's something strange about Miya? What did the old man mean when he said that? She's just a little tike, a normal kid. True her hair is unique, and her skin is a bit dark, but... Master Xehanort must have a reason to be wary of the kids. He doesn't joke around…'

As he sat there musing about Miya, Ansem, Lea, and Isa, Braig didn't hear the creaking steps as someone descended from upstairs.

_Zuga stopped at the foot of the staircase, staring owlishly into the kitchen where she had heard Braig moving about. She had been awake for ages now, waiting for the sound of somebody rustling around until she decided to finally leave her room, as she didn't want to wake anyone up or amble about aimlessly through the house looking like a fool._

She glanced between the stairs and the kitchen, wondering if it was okay to disturb him in any way. Seeing that if she went back upstairs she'd probably be locked up there the whole day, she finally made her decision and took a few hesitant shuffles in before looking around warily, as if something was going to jump out at her at any moment.

Braig finally looked up. "Mornin', Swamp Monster."

Her expression sealed into a peeved scowl from the irritable nickname. She soon let it drop and leaned over until she was propped up against the counter-tops. She ran a tired hand through her long hair to rid it of unwanted tangles. "Hn," she addressed to him curtly in a soft grunt.

Braig quirked a brow at her and went over to his coffee pot, pouring his coffee into his mug. He quickly made a run out to the front door to grab his beloved newspaper. Getting back to the kitchen, he looked at Zuga before going to the fridge.

"Hey, do you need me to make you some breakfast, Swamp Monster?" he asked, looking at her over his shoulder.

_She drew in a breath as if she was going to answer, but suddenly blanched, gnawing on her lower lip slightly frustrated. Tucking her arms across her chest stubbornly she stared at the ground and shuffled her feet. Zuga averted her eyes away from him, deciding to admit hopeless defeat. "Yes…" It wasn't like she could manage to make anything on her own._

She decided to play with the hem of her robe's sleeve, only barely listening to the sound of him getting out various items. As she leaned against the counter, her insides feeling twisted with nervousness and awkwardness, she couldn't help but reflect on how much she had yet to learn about this world. Yesterday she thought she had it figured out, but now, yet again, she felt reduced down to nothing. Her pale eyes traveled up slightly then back down to her hand, her vocals feeling taut.

"I'll have to learn to cook over again, aren't I?" she said in a strangled twist between her old world vernacular and this one's, a sour twist of a snort and a chuckle following.

As Braig went about making some scrambled eggs -he liked eating eggs for breakfast- he watched the young woman out of the corner of his eye, his ears peeled to listen to her mumble under her breath.

"I'll have to learn to cook over again, aren't I?" she murmured.

He gave a low chuckle and scooped her breakfast into a bowl and handed it to her. "Well, if you want, I can always teach you. It's not as hard as you might think here," Braig said with a nonchalant shrug, watching as she took her breakfast to one of the stools.

_Zuga stared at the food with a wry smirk. "Looks harder than smoking kill over a range." She took the fork and started playing and prodding at the different chunks, as if inspecting it for something lethal. When finding nothing seeming or smelling toxic, she slowing began to eat, still looking suspicious of it. She glanced up to Braig to see him looking amused by her coyness._

Her shoulders sagged over the counter sheepishly. "But, you could try. Master Xehanort said I learn fast."

Braig scrambled up a bunch of eggs for himself and scooped it onto his plate. He scooted his coffee mug and paper over to the seat next to Zuga and sat down with his breakfast. "Yeah, I can teach you how to scramble eggs if you want. I'm not sure when Master Xehanort is gonna be up, but you can cook him breakfast and I can wake him," Braig said as he began to eat.

_As she had done many times before, she looked up at him sharply and gave him the are-you-crazy look. Her brow quirked at him to question his sanity and she stuttered timidly, "I-I don't think that's a great idea Braig, I…" She glanced down at her plate. "I don't… I don't…"_

She pursed her lips tightly when she couldn't think of a valid reason as to why she wouldn't or couldn't be able to do such a task other than the infuriating fact that she was afraid of failure. Zuga glanced at him again briefly before looking back at the dish. She heaved a sigh and picked at her food sourly. "If you order me to, I'll do it," she muttered to him.

Braig stared at her blankly, blinking at her with a raised eyebrow shortly afterwards. 'What the heck? What does she think she is? A slave? And who does she think I am? Wait- this must be something with her people's strange social pyramid thingies she was referring to last night,' Braig thought to himself.

The raven haired man just shook his head and sighed in disbelief. "Woah, Zuga, do you know what the word 'fun' means? We don't order people around here. You're not a slave, or servant. The only person in Radiant Garden's that has servants is the King, and they just have every-day jobs that they do. We don't order people to do things around here unless you're a disobedient child. And I don't think you're a slave, servant, or disobedient child, Swamp Monster."

_The woman flinched to the word "servant", remembering how Master Xehanort had told her the same thing before they arrived here. She sagged her shoulders and stared at her hands numbly, shuffling her feet about as she pondered over his words._

"So… What should I do?" she asked suddenly. "Are you giving me a choice?"

"Yes," he drawled pointedly with a slow nod.

Zuga went back to looking at her hands, huffing irritably. Then it was a question of what she wanted. She didn't know what she wanted. In all actuality, she wanted to understand. 'And the only way to understand is to learn,' she told herself. So, she wanted to learn. Therefore, she should listen to him.

Sighing, Zuga muttered, "I'll do it… Just don't expect me to be good at it."

"I don't expect you to be good at it on your first try... that's just a bit overestimating your abilities. You're in a new world and you aren't sure how to quite deal with everything just yet. That's perfectly alright, no need to feel bad or feel pressured into doing something you don't want to do," Braig said with a smile. He scooped up the last of his eggs into his mouth and drank the last of his coffee in under thirty seconds.

The man was having a hard time processing that this young woman wasn't accustomed to not having a choice. Seriously, what kind of society had she grown up in? From what it sounded like it was a sexist race that the women had no rights or opinions and just did what they were told with no value to their physical existence. The thought of the Swamp Monster living some place like that made him cringe.

Standing, he took both his and Zuga's dishes to the sink and rinsed them off. "Alright, scrambling eggs isn't hard to do, it's a perfect thing for a beginner to learn, so come over here and I'll show you, step by step."

_Groaning, she heaved herself over to him until she was standing next to him, looking quite uneasy with her mouth scrunched in a concerned frown. The strange machines they had still made her head spin, and she could only describe the heat-giving thing in front of her as a very oddly welded hearth._

She felt his stare on her as she stared down at the object. "You don't look very confident."

"I don't feel very confident," Zuga replied softly with a moan.

Braig just chuckled and shook his head. "All you're doing is scrambling eggs. I don't see how one can make a disaster occur from that. I'm gonna be right here the whole time," he said laying his hand on her shoulder and patting it reassuringly.

"First things first: this thing here is a stove. The top part is what has the burners and this-" he bent down and opened the stove's door. "-is the oven, and in the oven we bake things like bread and, just… other foods that have to be baked in ovens.

"Secondly, these are eggs," he said pointing to the carton of eggs on the counter. "This is a spatula and this is a frying pan." Braig held up the two cooking items. "We spray the pan with oil and then crack the eggs into it, and-" He gave her a look with the quirk of a brow, "-and we don't eat the shells."

Braig took one egg and cracked it on the frying pan and then threw the empty shell away. "Now you try," he said handing her an egg. "And be gentle with it. You don't have to bang it against the pan."

_She looked at the items with a quick, tactical stare, assessing their uses and names. Once marking it down in her memory bank, he showed her the eggs, which she found (at last!) to be a familiar food. Reaching up, she picked the small spherical opal. It surprised her greatly with how small these eggs actually were. They were so light as well, and the shell seemed so brittle under her firm fingers. She looked up to Braig questioningly._

"Are all of your eggs normally this small and fragile?" she asked with a light, sardonic smile, palming it pleasantly. "In the swamps, our eggs could be the size of our heads and they were much more durable than this. Slam this thing down and it'll shatter, won't it?" A short chuckle sounded from her. "We needed a rock to crack open ours." Cocking her head she gently tapped the egg against the pan's edge, trying to hold back her strength so that she didn't completely destroy it. The yolk that came out onto the sizzling pan made her gape in surprise and astonishment. "And the insides are green... not yellow."

Braig looked weirded out by the woman's comment about yolk color of eggs. Green was definitely not a yolk color he was interested eating any green colored eggs. "Uhm that's… interesting," he said, rubbing his neck awkwardly and clearing his throat.

"Well let's get these eggs scrambled shall we?" Braig said handing her a spatula. He then proceeded to begin to scramble the eggs. "Just swirl the spatula around the eggs." Braig said turning the burner on.

_She couldn't help but laugh to the strange look he was giving her and shook her head lightly. Taking the tool from him she began to mimic what he had done, trying to be gentle with it, for the item in her hand didn't seem very sturdy and felt very hollow in her vice-like grip._

Fascination hit her face as Zuga watched the batter begin to flare and swell to life in the chunks she had ate literally moments ago. She quirked a puzzled brow. "That's it? That's all there is to it?" It was the quickest dish she had ever made. Zuga swerved her head to look at him doubtfully, but he nodded and she slumped, amazed. "Wow."

Braig chuckled in response to her amazed gaze at the frying pan of scrambled eggs. "Not all dishes are this fast though, Swamp Monster. You better take that into thought when doing something like... Chocobo legs, or somethin'. Could get real sick if you're not careful with preparing some types of foods around here," he explained grabbing the pan off the stove and scooping the said eggs onto a plate.

"Now, just stand here!" he said moving her to stand right next to the plate of food. "And I will be right back."

And with that Braig disappeared upstairs with a sly grin on his face, nearly running down the hall. "Oh, Master Xehanort! The Swamp Monster and I made ya some breakfast!" he sang in an over dramatized and sweet voice when he had reached the Old Dude's bedroom door, which was more like the entrance to the attic, but Master Xehanort had chosen it and changed it to his liking.

"Oh, Master Xehanort! Time to awaken from your slumber!" Braig continued, knocking lightly on the door.

_Zuga visibly cringed upon hearing the embarrassing tone of voice Braig was using. She waited a minute, counting down in her head to the snappy remark she expected next._

And it came.

It wasn't as threatening as she might've thought it to be, but it was enough to make her stomach flop.

"Braig, talk to me like that ever again and I'll wring your neck." It was a loud enough threat for her to hear from downstairs, and she couldn't help but wince more when she heard Braig laughing fairly obnoxiously at his master's retort.

Zuga listened quietly as a door creaked and another set of footsteps began walking around upstairs.

"Oh, Master Xehanort! Time to wakey-wakey!" Braig serenaded outside his elderly master's door.

"Braig, talk to me like that ever again and I'll wring your neck," was the deep gravely response from the sleepy, old man. Braig winced, his ears having to readjust for the day to his master's unfortunate vocal pattern's.

"Aww, come on, Master Xehanort! Don't I get even a small 'thank you' for exerting the effort to teach Zuga how to cook? And not burn the house down at the same time?" Braig asked, stepping to the side of the door as he listened to the old man groan and get up out of bed.

There was a spew of grumbles and growls that came from the room as the wizened old Keyblade Master fully awoke and put on his robe, before opening the door and giving his obnoxious apprentice a seething glare of disdain.

"Good morning, Master Xehanort!" Braig said, not missing a beat under the glare that would make most individuals wither into dust on the spot.

_The elderly man shot his apprentice a cold glare, but sighed when he finally remembered that it would have no effect. The young man was too thick skulled to get the message clearly, or any message, for that matter; which was the precise reason he had gotten that barbarian girl to begin with. Sighing irritably, he lazily followed his wide-awake underling downstairs to the table-countertop, sparing a glance at the source of all the excitement._

Zuga gave him an exasperated look, clearly trying to make it known that this had not been her idea and that she had been against it from the very beginning. He returned it empathetically. 'Yes, he's always like this…' was his silent answer to her.

She seemed to get the message and huffed nervously, rubbing her arms.

Braig followed his master down the stairs, still beaming after all the glares and disapproving looks he was getting from both the Old Dude and the Swamp Monster. Once again his hyper, and strange attitude kicked in, and he went over to a chair, pulled it out and bowed dramatically for Master Xehanort. "Have a seat, Master. Zuga has prepared you a fine breakfast of scrambled eggs; with my expert helping hand of course," Braig said picking the plate up and setting it at the chair's place at the counter.

_"I'm not too sure if your expert hand is a good thing or a bad thing at this point," he grumbled, helping himself to the chair. He gave Braig another wary glance before staring down at the plate. "You didn't poison it, did you?" he asked in his gravel tone, his gold eyes tapering. It was hard to tell if he was being sarcastic or not._

"I would never do such a thing!" the apprentice replied. Master Xehanort didn't miss the mock hurt in his voice.

Shrugging it off and deeming Braig too stupid to figure out how to actually poison anything, he sighed and slowly started on his breakfast, ignoring Braig's eager stare. If anything, he was embarrassing himself.

He caught Zuga out of the corner of his eye, lingering away from them. She looked like she was debating whether to make a run for the stairs or not. Personally, he didn't blame her.

But, he needed her with him today, so he couldn't have her locking herself up in her room. "Zuga," he called, not turning his head one bit to watch her flinch. She quietly shuffled up next to him, averting her gaze cautiously. "I hope Braig hasn't been too much of a bother to you," he grunted casually, hearing the said man's irritated huff next to him. "Sometimes he can get carried away with things..."

She dipped her head in understanding, the corners of her mouth twitching slightly. He decided that in time she'd feel more comfortable with verbal communication.

"I admit," he continued, "You've been doing good so far." He left it vague because in all honesty she was coping with the sudden world switch very well. Better than he had originally imagined. It was only day three, after all. "But now it's time to take the next step." He slumped back and stared at her. "I'm going to give you basic magic training today."

Braig felt a tad miffed that his master and the new addition ignored him so easily, leaving him in his corner to sulk. He went about tidying up his beloved kitchen and listened half heartedly to Master's Xehanort's fairly one sided conversation.

"I admit, you've been doing good so far. But now it's time to take the next step." There was a sigh from the old man and a shift in the chair. "I'm going to give you basic magic training today."

Braig coughed and sputtered on the last of his second cup of coffee, which he had been draining out of his mug. Thankfully it wasn't all over his master, but instead the unfortunate sink.

"Braig are you alright?" came his master's drawl which had a hint of distress in it. Braig admitted openly he could be a handful most of the time as a student.  
The younger man nodded as he continued to cough and looked at his master with a bewildered stare. "You're already going to teach her basic magic?" he queried.

The only response was a nod from the old man.

Braig still looked bewildered and somewhat hurt. "You didn't start teaching me magic till a year after taking me in!" he began in a whiney tone.

"Because you begged and badgered my ear off about it constantly for that whole year. I had never intended to teach such a loathing fool as you magic, Braig. Just think back to how you were then: a lazy, good-for-nothing loafer who just surfed, destroyed coconuts and did the small, trivial errands I asked of you."

Once more Braig began to sputter and look injured. "Well- yeah, but-**_pfft!_**She can hardly speak! Or read, for that matter!"

Master Xehanort gave him a dead pan stare. "Don't you have somewhere you need to be getting to, Braig? You're a working man after all now. Don't want you getting fired for not showing up on the first day."

Braig looked as if he was going to give a smart -or dumb- retort, but paused as look of dawning came to his face. And then the shock. The man gasped and dashed up the stairs in a hurry.

_Zuga watched the episode with a quirked brow, barely able to understand or comprehend what Master Xehanort was saying to Braig as he spoke to him in such a condescending manner. The terms were unfamiliar to her, but by the sound of the old man's tone, they were activities that weren't too productive or looked fondly upon. Why did that not really surprise her?_

And when Master Xehanort reminded Braig about his new job, Zuga couldn't help but feel the pit in her stomach as he ran back upstairs. She supposed she was partially to blame for that… They had been pretty engrossed with their previous affair.

Master Xehanort sighed again, grumbling under his breath. Zuga shifted from one foot to another, not knowing if she was dismissed yet. After a few moments of the man recollecting himself, he looked back up at her. "Now, about the magic…" He glanced around for something, turning his head around the room. He finally found something worthy of interest… around her neck. He motioned to the fossil-like necklace. "May I use that as an example?" Her face flashed with sudden wariness, which he saw instantly. "It won't be harmed," he assured.

Zuga pursed her lips and slowly reached behind her hair to untie the thin, leather thong that clasped it together hestitantly. She slipped it into Master Xehanort's open palm and reclined back, never looking away from her prized-possession.

"Now, I've seen your fighting style back in Lackluster," he drawled as he manipulated his hand over the object. "You're more close-ranged than anything else… Therefore, your magic needs to be something that can be long-range to effectively hide or destroy weaknesses: a balance, in a sense." The bones of the necklace began to rattle and lift off his palm, seeming to divide into new bones. In a matter of seconds, a full, skeletal recreation of a bird rested in the old man's hand. He held it up to her.

"I know how you obtained this necklace," he said slowly and in a low voice, reading the awe in her expression. "… Think about the concept of it coming to life…" The bird hopped off his hand and flitted onto her shoulder.

Zuga stared at it with wide eyes, subconsciously reaching up to touch it. The bird pressed it's hollow head against her fingers. She swallowed the rising lump in her throat and swung her head to look down at Master Xehanort, icy blue-grey eyes set and stern.

"… Teach me."

He seemed pleased that those had been her first words to him. He nodded. "Alright then… first thing's first, though." He had the bird fly back to his hand. "I need to teach Braig a little lesson…"

There was a puff of black smoke and the bird vanished from his hand, causing Zuga to momentarily panic. But then, a second later, she heard Braig freaking out upstairs.

"What the-! Ow! Hey! Stop pecking me!"

After Braig had dashed up the stairs he went into his room hurriedly and checked himself in the mirror to double check his professional, guard-like appearance. When he was satisfied with what he saw, Braig tied his kerchief around his neck, slipped his boots on, and then proceeded to put on his gloves.

That was when the disturbing, skeleton- bird Master Xehanort had sent up to his room magically appeared inside and began to peck the unfortunate Braig.

"What the-? Ow-! Hey! Get the **_hell_** out of my room!_"_ he shouted at it in surprise as it commenced its barrage of pecking.

With one glove in hand, he waved it at the bird and directed it towards his door, while it still tried to peck him. And it knew where not to peck too... His very slick backed hair that was nearly as hard as a helmet.

After being unsuccessful at getting the bird out of his room, Braig dashed past the disturbing creature and out into the hallway.

"Stop pecking me!" Braig screamed as he ran through the kitchen and out the door.

When he was a safe distance away from the house, Braig stopped and scowled back. "Dang it, Master Xehanort! It's only 8 am," he grumbled as the clock struck eight. He had two hours to wait till he needed to be at the castle.

With a sad little face-palm, Braig walked toward the town square. "Guess I'll just read the newspaper till its time," he said with a sigh.

___After Braig fled the house in a panicked hurry, the skeletal bird returned back to Master Xehanort's shoulder. It rustled and preened imaginary feathers, but a mere second later, it trembled and collapsed into a rubble pile of fossils. It was a necklace again. The old man took the piece by the string and gave it back to her._

Zuga cradled in her hands, unable to bite back a thin smile.

Master Xehanort sighed, "Now that I've driven away the nuisance…" He looked up and started to instruct, "Magic is harbored deep within one's heart. You must delve into that reserve and draw it out through meditation and concentration on settling your emotions. You'll know when you've found it. It will be a very unique sensation."

She listened quietly, already trying to fall into concentration. But as she did this, he said, "In the beginning, you'll need complete silence. What I want you to do is find a comfortable place to meditate and set those bones in front of you while you do so. Focus first on finding the strength in your heart, and then try and transfer that energy to your necklace. I'll let you try it on your own for a little while then I'll come back and coax you the rest of the way. Fair?"

Zuga nodded and with that, Master Xehanort got up and heaved himself up the stairs. Zuga folded her fingers over the thin, brittle looking (but surprisingly solid) bones, deciding that she might as well try it in the book-room.

* * *

Braig sat at a quiet little cafe reading his newspaper till 9:30 sharp. The young man was still thoroughly irked at what his master had pulled over on him, and in his own house, at that. Braig sighed and rolled the newspaper up, setting it back down on the table before standing and heading off towards the castle.

'I wonder what little Miya's going to have in-store for me today,' he wondered.

He could already tell that taking care of this child would be a breeze. She had a laid back- personality; a child who loved to explore. Her attention was easily kept, too, if you knew how to properly interact with her.

The courtyard was silent when he entered through the gates; he looked around with a worried expression. He wasn't late... in fact he was 10 minutes early, so that might've been the reason for the lack of the King and his daughter's presence in the courtyard.

He saw a rustle in one of the lower windows out of the corner of his eye, and believed that he had only been seeing things.

That was until the violet haired princess came running out of the castle doors and tightly hugged his legs. "Braig! You're here! You're here!"

_"Why yes, I am," he chuckled, trying to keep his balance as Miya constricted his legs together. She finally peeled herself off of him and Braig turned around, crouching down to meet the little princess' height. "You're up bright an early," he noted, ruffling her short violet hair. "Usually kids like you sleep in till forever on days like this."_

"I'm too excited to sleep!" she exclaimed happily.

Today must feel like such a big day for her. Finally going out of the castle's walls to do something new and exciting... It might seem like a big adventure to one so small and so young as her. Braig smiled to himself and stood up, looking around. "So where's your dad, Kiddo?"

"He's in the kitchen, eating breakfast and reading his newspaper," Miya answered with a beaming smile. "He told me to watch for you, since I kept bugging him about when you were going to get here," she said with a rosy blush and a shrug. "I've been so excited this morning Braig! And Papa was kind of getting a headache, and he's never to happy when he has a headache," she said shaking her head.

The little girl dug her left black shoed foot into the ground self consciously. "He wanted me to bring you into the castle when you got here, that way you can have your official first day lecture!"

She grabbed his hand and began to pull him into the side door she had come out of. "Come on, Braig. The sooner you two talk the sooner we can leave!" Miya said excitedly.

The little girl pulled Braig through the door and down a few halls, all the while skipping and looking pretty cute in her little summer green sundress.

It wasn't long till Miya brought him to the back of castle on the first level. The kitchen itself was centered in the middle of that floor, but the morning room was at the back with a beautiful patio that went out into the garden.

The morning room was one of the King's favorite places in the castle, and always ate his meals there. The sun that filtered in every time of the day was truly an ideal place to appreciate the garden and all its beauty.

When Miya and Braig crossed the threshold, the little girl let go of her new bodyguard's hand and ran over to her father. He sat in one of the wooden chairs at the table by the window, reading his paper. The King was dressed in his casual attire and white lab coat, obviously ready for a day of experimenting and building whatever his latest project was.

"Oh, Papa! Guess who's here!" Miya sang resting her hands on her father's legs.

"Who is here, Miya?" Ansem inquired, lowering his paper and giving a wink to Braig before giving his full attention to his dear daughter.

"Braig is, Papa! Now you can give him his official first day lecture like you said!"

"Miya I was only kidding when I said that, you don't have to take me quite so literally, dear child," he said shaking his head with an amused grin and sigh.

Ansem set his paper down and scooped Miya into his arms as he stood, walking over to Braig with his daughter cheerfully giggling in his arms.

"Good morning, Braig," he greeted, "I hope your morning was pleasant."

_"More or less," he said through a smirk, biting back the begrudging tone he had running through his head. He was still sour about his spoiled morning and having to wait outside for two hours. Giving the lavish room a quick sweep with his eyes, Braig coughed, "So, did you want me to give that rent money to the landowner for those two tikes today when it was time to go see them?"_

Miya's eyes brightened with eagerness. She looked like she was more than ready to jump out of Ansem's arms and bolt straight into town to where her new friends lived. Now that Braig thought back, she hadn't seen their house yet.

Miya began squirming in her father's arms, and when she realized that he wasn't going to let her down she reached her arms out to Braig, begging with her eyes for him to take her.

But it seemed both men decided to ignore her and she crossed her arms, with a scowl and pout on her face.

Ansem nodded his head. "Indeed, I did, Braig," he replied, reaching into his lab coat's pocket, pulling out a medium sized, and very plump bag of munny, handing it to his Captain of the Guard. He then noticed the disposition of his daughter and chuckled.

"It seems Miya is quite impatient and is ready to go, Braig. I think it is safe to say that she is quite excited," Ansem said, setting her down.

Miya immediately grabbed Braig's free hand and began tugging him toward the door. "We can go now right, Papa?" she asked, full of hope.

Ansem nodded his head. "Yes, you both may go, have a good day. And Braig, you may need to be stern with her sometimes, she doesn't always listen when she's excited."

_Nodding to the King's advice and tucking the rent away in a safe pocket, he then let Miya pull him through the castle, stooping slightly so she didn't yank his arm out of its socket. She led him outside the castle, and stopped there, looking between the town and paths on either side of her barred by white gates. Braig assumed they led to the gardens._

"Where are we going, Miya?" he asked her. Honestly, he had no idea how he was going to keep her entertained until it was time to go meet Lea and Isa. He had never really had responsibility over a kid before. But how hard could it be?

Miya turned her head to look up at him, a beaming smile on her face. "I think I should show you my home first, since this is your first day at work you need to get to know this place really well!" she said, beginning to pull him over to a hedge. The thing looked solid but Miya went right up to it and went down on her hands and knees, and crawled into it.  
"Follow me, Braig, I'm gonna show you around the gardens first!" her little voice said from the other side of the hedge.

_He glanced around, precautious; wondering if crawling around in the dirt was a good idea for one of his sudden status. Finally shrugging it off, he crouched down and peeled away the branches to see the other side. He pushed his way through, Miya there waiting for him. She grabbed his hand and dragged him, introducing him to different species of flora and segments that contained artistic pieces of architecture such as statues and fountains and some being interesting contraptions that her father had made._

This continued throughout the whole perimeter of the castle grounds, and after what seemed short-lived, they ended up back where they started: the castle gate.  
Braig looked up to the sky, seeing that the sun was reaching its climax. They still had loads of time to kill before it was time to go meet the two little boys. Glancing back down to Miya, he asked, "So now, what? Anything amazing you want to see or show me?"

Bright amber brown eyes stared up at him, sparkling with excitement and a hint of mischief. Miya looked thoughtful as she tapped her foot on the ground and scratched her chin ponderously. She was a bit of a loss of what to do, for she had shown Braig everything she deemed him trustworthy to see, for she couldn't show him every little treasure just yet. Especially her special hiding place in the hedge. The little girl liked him yes, but just because she liked him didn't mean he had the full trust of the 6 year old.

"Well," she said looking around, and turning in circles a few time because of a distracting, passing butterfly. "You could show me around town, places you like to go- Oh, oh! And show me _your_house!" Miya's voice changed from slow and drawn out, to fast and excited.

She leapt forward and grabbed his glove hand "Please, please, please! Show me your house, Braig!" Miya gave him her big brown eyes and best, adorable pouty face.

_Braig looked at her doubtfully, his lips tugging into a nervous frown. "I-I don't know, Miya," he stuttered, not liking the proposition. If he were to go anywhere near his house during this whole operation while the old man was still there, he was bound to throw a fit about blowing cover and all that other stuff he didn't feel like being lectured about. But those darn eyes! He pouted back at her, tossing around the idea. Maybe she'd get so entranced with the town she'd forget about seeing his house._

Sighing in defeat, he said, "Oh, alright."

Miya squealed, hopping up and down with excitement. Braig looked to the gates once then back at her. Yeah, the town would keep her mind occupied for a while... He scooped her up and placed her on top of his shoulders without consent. Before she could complain or protest he explained, "There's gonna be lots of crowds at this hour, squirt. Don't need you getting trampled."

There was a squeak of disapproval from the small child as he hoisted her into the air and onto his shoulders. Miya wrapped her arms around his forehead tightly, chin resting on the top of his head, her little eyes wide with worried fright.

"B-b-but it's so high up here," she whimpered, her voice a small, high pitched squeak.

"Aww, come on, squirt! I'd rather you be safe and petrified up there than happily squished," Braig said, with a chuckle. "Just hold on tightly to me, you'll be fine."

"Promise?" she asked looking down at him doubtfully, even though he couldn't see her expression, it was in her voice.

"I promise, squirt."

"Pinky promise?" Miya reached her small hand down, pinky extended, her other arm tightening its grip around his head. Her little hand reached his shoulder as she reached for his hand.

There was a chuckle and Braig shook his head, causing Miya to squeak in disapproval and constrict his head further, which surprised him because she had enough of an iron grip already. He reached his hand up and locked his pinky with her tiny one.

"Pinky promise," he said heading off towards town.

His little ward settled into her perch, both arms wrapped in a steel grip, eyes wide, not only in a bit of trepidation, but excitement.

_As he had predicted, the streets were filled to the brim with bustling citizens, going about their daily commute. Mostly it was the women going around to fetch ingredients for a later dinner while their kids and husbands were away. The handful of men that were about were either shop vendors or retired and elderly. There were was an occasional teen running about, doing public services such as weeding out gardens, or raking the few fallen leaves that might have drifted onto the pavement. Braig found himself brushing elbows as he made his way through the Square, Miya's grip slackening only a little as she took in the wonders from a new view, nearly oblivious to all the stares she was receiving from below as well._

After clearing a degree and getting many stares along the way, (he had to admit, the sight of Miya was odd for most, seeing that she had a rare hair color) and for the fact that she was riding atop his shoulders to top the whole scene off, Braig got to a less crowded part of town through a less-often used alley. It brought them to a part of town that was more of a scenic route paved on either side with lovely trees and budding bushes than that of a worn, commerce road. Seeing this place to have not a lot of people, he hoisted Miya down next to him.

"Now don't you go wandering off, kiddo," he said as she began to immediately inspect her new surroundings. "Stay close to me, alright?"

Only the eager bob of her head indicated that she had heard. Braig followed her around in short strides, waiting for her to have her fill of questions and observations. When she did ask a question, he would try his best to explain it for her. He wasn't too sure if he was any good at that, but she didn't complain about his answers and would bounce to the next item of interest. Her exploits seemed to hit him like a wave of déjà vu. Hadn't he been in this very predicament not but three days ago when a dinosaur walked into his hallway? The thought teased him, making him smile. What a small world it was.

When they had taken a near complete circle by following the road, Braig led her more toward the center of town. Upon seeing crowds too thick for his liking once more, he picked Miya back up and set her again on his shoulders. His next destination was to the fountains. It was on the other side of town, but the long walk was worth the wait when they reached the cascading waterfalls of color. The sun hit the fountain at such an angle that rainbows were painted above, casting their vibrant reflections on the silver surface. He set Miya down again.

"And here are the Fountains! In the summer, kids like to come and play around here to cool off." He watched fondly as Miya stared wondrously around her, taking in the breath-taking sight.

Miya stared wide eyed at all the people as they walked through the crowded square. There had been lots of people at the festival the day before but she hadn't noticed them because she had been so focused on the things her father was showing her... and the Chocobo's. Now there wasn't that distraction, and they all seemed to be looking at her. She ducked down low against Braigs head, trying to be as small as possible, unsure of why they kept looking at her so strangely.

She was amazed by the sheer size and beauty of the town. The building were beautifully decorated, and every plant and tree were finely pruned. It almost rivaled her beloved gardens at the castle.

Miya was very happy when Braig set her down on the ground, and she looked up at him quizzically as to why. He chuckled down at her and patted her head, his response being "There are less people so no threat of being squished, Squirt."

The little girl grinned happily and started to poke around, curiosity blooming in her eyes.

"Now don't you go wandering off, kiddo," he said as she began to immediately inspect her new surroundings. "Stay close to me, alright?"

Miya turned back and nodded her head in a quick affirmation, walking and sometimes running from one place to another, always with a question of how, what and why. Braig always responded with an answer, all of them seeming extremely smart and knowledgeable. And she often spoke this to him after he'd answer. Things such as "wow, really?" and, "you're so smart!" and, "how do you know all this stuff?"

The time passed by quickly, even though it was like an hour or three, but Miya didn't notice. She was extremely absorbed in figuring out her new huge surroundings. Life outside the castle seemed so confusing and complex, not to mention exciting and adventurous.

Miya took his hand as they walked back out to the busier street, though she was too busy inspecting flower bed of tulips to notice Braig's ponderous expression. Once again she was swooped up onto his shoulders, earning him another squeak of displeasure. This time for being taken away from her flowers, though one was firmly stuck in her hand, now. A lovely purple tulip, and she settled on this his shoulders to stare at the flower and the area of town they walked through.

It was a long walk and one of Miya's arms hung loosely over Braig's head, hand and flower dangling in his face. Head propped up on the other hand, elbow propped on his head, a tired and amazed look on her little face. He turned a corner and she shot her head up immediately.

She stared wide eyed at the huge beautiful fountain before her, the sun cascading onto the flowing water, casting rainbows all over the place. He walked onto a small bridge in front of the huge fountain and stopped. It was a perfect spot; it was in the middle of the rainbows and the spray of the water. Braig set her back down on the ground, letting her stand in amazement of the sheer beauty. They were the only two there at that time of the day, the whole area quiet and serene.

"And here are the Fountains! In the summer, kids like to come and play around here to cool off." He watched fondly as Miya stared wondrously around her, taking in the breath-taking sight.

Her brown eyes were like saucers as she turned in a 360 circle over and over, watching the rainbows play on the purple and grey stone walls, and as they danced across the waters silvery surface. The two stood in awe for about ten minutes, before Miya decided to go explore the water around the bridges edge.

Braig was too busy admiring the site to notice her turn and walk off to the opposite side of the small bridge. She went to the edge and stared at the large lily pad covered surface. They were in full bloom and were quite lovely. Her little mind couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to sit on one.

Miya turned to look at Braig, happy to see he was still busy with the fountain and she then turned around and inched over the side of the bridge. Her feet sought out the firm feel of one lily pad and she let herself sink onto it.

The six year old smiled happily as she sat on it for three seconds, before a _sploosh_ of water and a squeak issued as the pad gave way beneath her and she fell into the water.

_Upon hearing the splash, Braig turned his head, the first thing he saw being Miya climbing out of the water, overturned lily pad drifting away, drenched head to toe. It didn't take a genius to figure out what had just happened. He gawked at her in disbelief. Her bangs were plastered to her face, dress clinging to her legs. She looked ridiculous, causing a tired smile to go on his face as he ran a hand through his hair._

She was shivering from the cold water but other than that, she was alright. Miya looked up at him sheepishly, a nervous, sideways grin on her face.

Chuckling in sheer amusement, he sighed, "Your dad's gonna kill me. Did you think you'd make a good frog?" He quirked a brow at her watching the water drip off her hair onto the puddle underneath her feet. "Because I don't think frogs are purple and look like drowned cats."

Miya used her arm to lift her plastered bangs off her face, staring up at Braig with a sheepish little grin. "I just wanted to sit on the lily pad Braig... I'm sorry," she said to him apologetically, a sincere, little look on her face.

The girl shuddered and picked up her wet dress skirt and began twisting the water out of it, also slipping her wet shoes and socks off. The feel of the warm rocks on the bottom of her wet feet felt very nice.

"Please forgive me Braig, and don't tell Papa! I didn't think it was going to do that! It looked quite solid!" she said with big brown eyes.

_He crouched down and gave her an entertained, yet exasperated expression. Her admission of guilt was innocent and he took it with a smile. Without much else to help out with the situation, Braig pulled off his scarlet kerchief and used it to flop on top of her head, ruffling it down over her face._

"You're quite the handful for being so dainty," he said. "But your apology is accepted and I forgive you." Braig sighed, seeing that his scarf wasn't helping much. "Now we gotta figure out how to dry you off… I'm sure the sun will do the trick, but walking around sopping wet isn't the best choice either. Might make you catch a cold or something. And no one wants that." He sat there, pondering what he could do. Bringing her back to Ansem to get her new clothes would entail him admitting to letting his daughter fall into the fountain and that wouldn't look good on his rep. The other resort was his only hope and solution, though it was just as costly…

He stood up, casting his eyes over in the general direction of his house, glancing at Miya to see her still wringing out her clothes, his kerchief still decorating the top of her head.

"C'mon, kiddo, let's get you dry," he said in confirmation of his plan, scooping her off her feet again. Her wet, cold body began making his own outfit damp and uncomfortable. "And then we can go get Lea and Isa."

Miya didn't protest when Braig picked her up, her little mouth was formed into a 'o' of wonderment and her brown eyes wide with excitement. She liked it when he picked her up off the ground, she felt so high up. She grinned up at him as he mentioned getting Lea and Isa once she was dry.

"Oh, goodie! I can't wait to see them and tell them what we've done so far. I wonder how their day at school has been. What is school Braig?" she blinked up at him, and then another question came to her little mind. "Are we going back home to get dry clothes? How am I going to get dry?"

_Her mountain of sudden questions made his head spin. He sighed, trying to take them one by one as he plodded along. "School is where people, usually young kids, go to learn about stuff. Going to school makes you smarter and teaches you that sitting on lily pads is not a good idea." Braig laughed at his own statement._

To her second and third question, he furrowed his brow, wondering what he should say. If he said they were going to his house, she'd want nothing more than to look through it. However, there was always their little curfew, and doing that would take time away from her two little friends, which she definitely wouldn't like. Braig looked down at her.

"We're going to my house to get you a towel so you can properly dry off."

Master Xehanort was gonna bite his head off for this…

Miya's eyes were wide as she sat in his arms for a moment, his answer sinking in.

"Really, Braig! Really? You're going to take me to your house! YAY!" she burst in excitement, and wrapped her wet little arms around his neck tightly giving him a big, wet hug.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

_He sighed, trying not to cringe as he was splattered with more water. "Well, it'll be fast. Fast enough that you can wait outside while I run in. We don't want to waste time because we gotta go get Lea and Isa," he said. His focus was drawn back to where he was walking. Lucky for him, his house wasn't particularly far from the fountains, and soon he could see it coming up. Only a few people were nearby, and they seemed to be clearing out anyway._

He sat Miya down in front of it with a grunt. "Okay, you wait right here while I get a towel, okay?"

Miya nodded her head in understanding, she watched him quickly walk into his house. She stood there waiting, drawing an 'X' in the ground with the toe of one shoe. The little girl stood on top of it and refused to move. Even if her curiosity about Braig's house was near boiling over, she refused to move from that spot.

So she simply settled for staring at it, taking in all its outside details. She liked it a lot, it reminded Miya of a house from a fairytale almost. Though most of the houses around town seemed that way anyways... but for some reason Braig's house was more than the rest.

The little, sopping-wet, six-year old waited outside patiently, rocking back and forth on her heels, wringing her dress out as much as possible, and after awhile pulled Braig's kerchief off her head and began to examine it, and then fold it neatly.

Miya was pleased with how well she was keeping herself occupied and staying still.

_Braig glanced once back at Miya before he went in, making sure she was staying still. Seeing that she hadn't budged an inch, he slipped inside, trotting briskly through the hall and into the kitchen where the stairs were. Master Xehanort was in there, sitting at the counter with a book. He looked up, seeming surprised._

"Fired so early?" he asked bluntly.

Braig glared at him as he walked by. "No, the kid fell into the fountain and she's wet. I need a towel."

The old man rolled his eyes at him with a smirk. "Can't even watch a child…"

From the top of the stairs he retorted, "My eyes were off her for literally two seconds!" He rustled through a hall closet, pulling out a plain white towel before rushing back down the stairs past the Master again. He was shaking his head, chuckling at him. Braig gave him an irked scowl, flying out the door again.

The old man sat still for a minute, waiting for the sound of Braig closing the door. When it hit, he glanced over his shoulder with a huff. Quietly, he slunk into the study past Zuga, who was still focusing on tapping into magic, and peered out the window from behind the opaque curtains. Braig had tossed the towel on top of the child's head and it was large enough to look like a ghost-sheet costume. She seemed to be laughing. Then she pulled it off and stared up at her guardian.

Master Xehanort squinted. She had grown quite a bit since the last time he had seen her… He looked to Braig. If only he knew the irony of this picture.

Quietly as he came, he left, ignoring the trailing pale blue eyes on his back.

It would be interesting to see how this played out.

Miya giggled up at Braig, holding the fluffy white towel in her hands, she grinned up at him for a few brief moments before going about drying herself. As she wrapped herself tightly in the towel she wondered if she'd imagined seeing a shadow in one of the windows, or if it was simply the wind playing with the curtain. But the thought left in an instant; as Braig knelt down to assist her.

She had it wrapped around her small body and head, the only thing visible was her face and shoed feet. Miya grinned at him brightly, cheeks all rosy.

"Braig, I stayed still the whole time you were gone! I stood on this 'X' I made." She pointed down to a smudge in the dirt that was nearly gone because of all the dripping water. "I did a very good job!"

_He grinned, confirming the mark with a glance. "That's a good kiddo!" She looked funny all blanketed up in that towel, but he bit down his laughter. He nodded to it. "That should help dry you off in no time." Braig reached up to his collar, attempting to adjust his kerchief. When feeling it not there, he momentarily felt that wrenching gut feeling when something valuable went missing. But then he remembered where he had left it and looked down at her. Miya was holding it out, seeing that he had been looking for it._

"Here you go!" she chimed.

Braig took it and found it damp. Shrugging, he wrung it out before flinging it on his shoulder. There was no use in wearing it now.

"Alright, shall we go see the boys now?"

Miya nodded her head "Oh, of course! But first let me take my shoes off. They're all wet and splooshy." she said wrinkling her nose up and bending down to un-strap her shoes and slip her very wet socks off. She wrung out the socks and tucked them inside her shoes, picking them up in her hand.

Miya's little feet were wrinkly from staying in the wet articles for so long. She giggled as she wiggled them on the warm, stone walkway and grinned up at him.

"Now we can go, Braig! Now we can go!" she sung cheerfully.

_He replied with a slight huff. As easier and faster it would be if he carried her there, it would be hard when she had all that stuff: towel, shoes, socks... He blinked contemplatively, looking down the road. Lea and Isa lived in the back of the city, where nobody usually went. The traffic wouldn't be too terrible. Then again, he didn't want her to get sore feet from walking barefoot. After a moment, he decided that if she started to look uncomfortable or mentioned it, he'd go the extra mile and carry her again._

"Okay, follow me," he said, motioning to a stone archway that connected two buildings together. This path would offer as a nice route to get to their house.

On the way, the luster of the city seemed to desaturate into pale colors. The walkway became worn and less clean. Stray cats padded around, fishing through scraps, meowing and mewling with hunger. They would scamper once seeing someone come close. The sides of the pavement became hidden under untrimmed grasses and weeds. The value of the houses came down in both design and size. They were half-way there.

Miya moved closer to Braig as they walked through a part of town she'd never seen before. Its rundown appearance worried her and made her brown eyes large with concern. She stopped briefly, not saying anything and pulled her socks out of her shoes and slipped the shoes back onto her feet before running to catch up with Braig.

The sights of the rundown buildings, pale colors, lack of flowers, abundance of trash, and scary looking cats- Miya's little mind made a disturbing connection.

"Braig? Do Lea and Isa live here?" she asked with her face scrunched into a scared look, full of distress and unhappy thoughts. Miya couldn't imagine that her two friends lived someplace like this.

_He looked down to see Miya nearly pressing up against his leg. "They live around the next couple of blocks," he replied dryly, catching the distress on her face. This was a pretty awful place to live, but as he had learned from experience, the orphanages were much worse._

The next place they turned led them to a narrow road. This one was a tad brighter than what they had seen earlier, as the sun was at an angle where the shadows of the buildings didn't cast as long. It seemed sunny compared to the other roads, but still, weeds climbed all over steps and walkway cracks and even sides of houses. Some shingles looked ready to fall off and window hinges were sometimes skewed.

"Well, we're here," he said, stopping at the second house.

It looked more like a two-story apartment than a house. What you could see past thick layers of vines that surrounded one side of the house was seen to be a dirt off-white color. One window looked cracked from one corner to the other. There was a small stairwell that led to a tiny porch (big enough for probably only one full-grown adult), dark railing twisted and rusted. The door was scratched and nicked in more than one place. The gutter was full of leaves that had failed to be cleaned out. The only thing that brought sign of life was a tiny flower pot with a slightly wilted orange flower inside resting next to a worn and ragged "welcome" mat.

Miya stared at the little home with wide eyes and pink little lips in a thin, displeased frown. Her little mind was putting things together about her new friends. The events that had taken place the day prior hadn't made much of an impact on her till now. The reality of why the boys were so defensive, protective of each other, not easily trusting, and also why they were shocked about her own lifestyle.

The image of her verses theirs, a little princess with the ability to have anything she wanted, and then Lea and Isa, two young boys who had to fight for everything in life. Yesterday she'd pleaded with her father and to them that it their statuses wouldn't affect their friendship. But seeing the reality was eye opening for the comprehensive six-year old.

Miya was going to keep her promise of not letting the difference have anything between them ruptured. She wouldn't pity them in any way. She'd be their friend and act like there was no difference till the end. Miya didn't understand why she was so drawn to these boys, but she wanted nothing more for them to accept her and see her as a true friend.

After a few moments of her pondering the little girl shrugged her towel off and handed it to Braig, shuddering from lost of its extra warmth. She went up the steps and knocked on the door lightly, a bright smile on her face as she waited.

_There was a small rustle from inside, and a hushed whisper. Then silence. They waited, an eerie feeling settling over. After a moment, Miya looked like she was going to knock again, but a pale face appeared to peek out from the cracked window. "It's Miya!" they exclaimed. It was Isa. He darted out of view and rushed to the door. It sounded like he was undoing a lot of locks before he finally threw open the door, Lea flying out first from under his friend's arm. Both were bright-eyed and excited, as if they hadn't believed she would show up._

"Hi!" they both squealed at her.

Miya's face broke out into a huge grin and she waved at the two, eyes wide and excited.

"Hello!" she said happily, clapping her hands together at the sight of them. "I'm here! We can go do whatever you guys want! How have you two been? Did you have a good day at school? Did you learn anything interesting? What is your school like?"

The long slew of questions hadn't been intentional, but once Miya's brain came up with one a lot more always followed.

_The two boys stared at her blankly, seeming not to know what the heck she was talking about. They blinked a couple times, exchanging glances. Isa suddenly perked up, "Oh! Right! School!" His face broke out into a smile. He nodded professionally. "It was good. We didn't do much, but most of the stuff we know anyway, right, Lea?" he said, nudging his friend._

Lea still looked quizzical and confused. "… We didn't go to school today, Isa… Remember? We slept in until eleven."

Isa glowered darkly at Lea. Braig couldn't help but grin at them. They were just like him when he had been a tike.

"Whelp," the guard said, slipping out the fat envelope from the king, "I'll just deliver this to what's-his-face over there while you guys decide on what to do." He paced away to the house next door, leaving them to ponder.

They watched him go briefly before looking to Miya. "So… What do you want to do first?" Lea chimed.

"We could go play in the park, chase frogs and bugs, make mud pies, harass Cid's gang, eat ice-cream… What do you feel like doing?" Isa listed, cocking his head at the princess.

Miya blinked after Braig, little head turned and tilted to the side as she watched him walk away. She wondered what he was delivering. She felt like she should remember, but she shrugged it away. She had too many more exciting things to focus on.

"So, what do you want to do first?" Lea broke the silence between them all, bringing her focus back to the present.

"We could go play in the park, chase frogs and bugs, make mud pies, harass Cid's gang, eat ice-cream… What do you feel like doing?" Isa listed, cocking his head at her.

Miya tapped her chin contemplatively; brown eyes once again alight with excitement. "Let's do all of them!" she said at last. They all sounded interesting; though some of them she wasn't sure what they were, such as the mud pies and harass a Cid's gang. But she figured she'd find out soon enough with these two.

"Let's go get Braig! We can tell him that we are going to the park first!" she exclaimed happily.

_As Miya turned to run after her guardian, the boys pulled her back by the arm. "Wait!" they said in a hushed, urgent voice. Their green eyes became wide as they observed from afar Braig talking to their landowner. Both adults had set jaws in mutualism. Jazz was opening the envelope, making sure what belonged in there was in there before giving a dark glower their way. They tried to smile back confidently, taunting him. Jazz only scoffed in irritation and turned inside with a grumble._

Braig came back with an irked expression. "Man, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed," he grumbled with a huff. "Is he always a prick?"

Isa nodded.

"Sadly, yes," Lea mumbled.

The guard shrugged it off. "So, what's the plan, kiddies?"

Isa was about to say their next destination when a voice called, "Hey!"

They turned. Lea's face brightened with excitement. "Zack!"

The group watch as the small, black-haired child from Cid's party ran over to them, puffing. "They told me to get here and back as soon as I could to give you guys this," He handed them a bag, and at the same time, his trailing eyes met the unfamiliar images of Braig and Miya. He stared at them blankly, glancing at Lea and Isa for an explanation. They were too busy peering inside the bag though, causing the child to look uncomfortable.

Miya rocked back and forth on her heels, watching Lea and Isa with a smile, going over to Braig and holding his hand. She watched the black haired boy, whom she'd seen the day before and who she remembered was Zack. Mainly 'cause Lea had shouted his name. She wondered why he looked so uncomfortable and uneasy.

She grinned at the spiky, black-haired, blue-eyed boy and waved. "Hello, I'm Miya! We met yesterday at the Chocobo pen."

_Zack shuffled his feet shyly, averting his attention to the ground as he shifted nervously. "Yeah, I remember… Hi," he said, nearly in a squeak._

Lea and Isa had begun pulling out coins, counting them down to their proper amount, tuning the rest of their company out. Braig seemed to be ignoring everything, trying not to look interested in whatever they were doing.

Miya stared at the black-haired boy with a curious look, and she decided to walk over to him. And she took it that he didn't like that idea, because for every step she took, he took one back. She couldn't understand why he looked uncomfortable and worried. "Is something wrong?" she asked tilting her head to the side.

_Zack still looked nervous and defensive. He stole a wary glance at her, shuffling his feet. "C-Cid and Reno s-said I shouldn't be around girls..." He paused looking from her to Lea and Isa, who now seemed to be paying attention to their conversation. "They... They said girls have c-cooties."_

Silence took them as everyone stared at the little boy. Suddenly, Braig sputtered a poorly concealed laugh and shook uncontrollably with fits of giggles. Zack looked offended and somewhat shocked.

"It's true!" he pleaded, bright blue eyes wide with fright. "You touch 'em and they give you this disease that will eat away at your skin and make you really, really sick! Cid and Reno said so!" Zack looked to Lea and Isa for help. The two boys were now examining their hands with pursed mouths, trying to find any effects from these "cooties". All the while, Braig kept laughing away, making Zack's face flush with embarrassment.

Miya looked at Braig with a very confused expression. She had never heard of such a thing called "cooties". What were they? And why did only girls have them? That was a strange illness, she just might have to ask her father about it later.

"I... I don't know what you're talking about,." she said crossing her arms and looking at Zack with a suspicious glare. "I've never heard of such a thing as "cooties". You must be making it up. Or perhaps it's you that has 'cooties' and not me. But I think your making it up... it doesn't sound real."

Braig was still laughing, more so now than a few moments before. He sounded like he was going to die of laughter.

_"I didn't make it up! It's what Cid and Reno said," Zack huffed desperately with a pout._

Isa quirked a brow. "Well Reno's stupid."

"Cid said so too! He's not stupid!"

Now Lea was starting to look worried. He scanned his arms with a narrowed gaze, trying to find the cooties.

Braig was still laughing, but he was able to say despite such, "I-I hate to break it to you, guys, but... Cooties aren't real!" He began to crack up all over again. "It's just something someone made up to keep their boys away from girls."

Lea and Isa looked relieved, but Zack still didn't look convinced, and continued to pout, shuffling his feet.

Miya looked even more confused at this revelation. She crossed her arms and looked thoughtful, her little pink lips pursed into a little troubled pout. "Why keep boys away from girls? There's nothing wrong with girls!" she said looking between Braig and Zack. "It would make more sense if it was to keep boys from girls and girls from boys... if boys too had cooties... but I think this is all nonsense... if it's not real..." Miya looked at her own arms and then at Zack's "Doesn't look like you've got any disease... perhaps your friends were just teasing you."

_Zack looked disgruntled and grumbled to himself, kicking a piece of rock around. Lea and Isa began to chuckle. "Well, you are pretty gullible, Zack. And you know how much those two like to mess with you... and us..."_

The black-haired child stuck his tongue out at them teasingly. "Well, I gotta go. Cid wants me back soon." He turned around, dashing off the way from which he came, throwing a small wave over his shoulder. The others watched him go with small smirks of amusement.

"Probably wants to ask Cid if the cooties are real," Isa said with a grin. He looked at the bag of munny and ran into his house to hide it, running back out not two seconds later.

"So, about the park," Lea prompted them, looking eager and hopeful.

"Yeah, let's go!" Isa agreed, looking to Braig and Miya for their consent.

Miya's confused face melted away to excitement and she skipped over to Braig and began to hop up and down. "Yes! Let's go to the park! Can we, Braig? Oh, can we, please?" she asked pleadingly.

Her guardian chuckled, bending down to ruffle her violet locks. "Yes, we can go to the park."

Miya squealed in delight and dashed over to Lea and Isa with a bright smile. "Alright, lead the way! I've never been to the park before. Is it far? What does it look like? What do you do at the park?"

Once again one question led to a multitude of others, barraging the boys with one right after the other and Miya completely unaware of this fairly normal habit of six-year olds.

_The two boys looked at each other with perplexed expressions, not knowing at first how to answer her. Then, they grabbed each of her wrists and said, "We'll show you!" Dragging her along on stumbling feet, they traversed down the beaten cobblestone path and around corners until the muck of their neighborhood melted away and became replaced with more lush surroundings as they made a loop for the Square. As soon as it seemed they were going to enter it, however, they veered to the right and pushed past a few accumulating crowds before dashing around to the path Braig had taken Miya to earlier. However, half-way around this circular road, they took a side-street that took Miya to a new section of the city. There were more shops here, and picnic tables were scattered about, people eating lunch upon them._

Isa led them over to yet another path, though this one wasn't paved with bright stones. Rather it was made of mulch and dirt. Dead ahead was the playground, and there was nobody there, making Lea smile happily. It was always better when no one was there to share with. As the children rushed to area, Braig hung back, content to watching how Miya would react to the jungle gym of childish fun.

Miya followed Lea and Isa through town close on their heels, Braig's towel still pulled over her hair and most of her body, her two little hands clasping it together at her front as she raced through the town after them. As they rounded the corner Miya skidded to a halt and stared wide-eyed at the amazing place that the two boys called a playground.

The playground was no ordinary playground. Yes, it had the monkey bars, the slides, tunnels, rock climbing walls, sliding poles and anything else you could want in the coolest playground ever. But it was fashioned to look exactly like a castle from a fairytale book. Its walls were made of stone, stacked just like a castle wall, the slides made of metal and the other activity pieces made of rubber, rope, metal or rock. The doors in the walls had gates that could be pulled up and there was even a moat and a draw bridge that led to its entrance.

It was exactly like a castle from one of her storybooks, or at least it looked like how she would have imagined it. "Wow, this is a playground?" she asked in bewilderment.

_The two boys nodded at her excitedly. "Uh-huh!" Before anything else could happen, they dashed off to the swings, nearly tackling the seat to the ground, had it not been suspended by chains. Both looked back over at Miya, and Isa called, "C'mon, Miya!"_

Lea began climbing higher on the swing with each passing stroke of his legs. Isa was merely twisting the swing in circles before letting himself spin out of control rapidly. Each began laughing at their antics, now starting to try and nudge each other with a stray foot as they swung.

Miya watched the two of them for a few minutes, a big smile on her face as she tried to figure out how they were being successful in swinging so high. After three or so minutes Miya quickly spun around and ran over to her guardian, holding the soggy towel out to him, waiting for him to take it.

Braig took it from and ruffled her hair, shooing her away, nodding his head in encouragement towards the two boys, who were now swinging lopsided as they were kicking each other as they crossed paths, or at least were trying to. Isa would kick his leg out and Lea would pull his leg away, thus making the swinging lopsided.

He chuckled as that little head of violet hair skipped over to an empty swing, the child poking it and then pushing it experimentally with her eyes wide. She turned her back to it and grabbed the chains, trying to jump up onto it but only succeeding at failing. Her little pout of frustration made Braig chuckle as he watched her.

Eventually Miya turned around and draped herself over it on her stomach and curled up into a ball, pushing off with one foot, but not getting as high as the two boys and looking a bit, well, worried.

_It was comical to see her struggle with the swings. So alien it was to her that she knew not how to work it. Braig grinned to himself with his arms folded as he watched her, wondering if she'd figure it out herself. Lea and Isa saw her struggling and tried to explain it to her._

"You're supposed to kick your legs out like this!" Lea said, demonstrating. He soared high over their heads. Isa copied him and made the same move. However, when Miya tried stretching out her legs and kicking, her stagnate form did not budge. She looked to her friends with a puzzled expression.

"How does kicking your legs make you go higher?"

The two boys stopped swinging and looked to each other. "Well," Isa began, looking like he knew. But then he stopped, pondering. "I... Well, it's like... Hm. I don't know."

With Lea and Isa's lessons a failure and Miya still not being able to figure it out, Braig could only plod over at that point and say, "Need some help, kiddo?"

Miya let herself slip from the swing and turned to look up at her guardian and nodded, "Yes, please, I don't get it, plus when I try to get up on the swing I can't reach, I'm too short." She dug the toe of one shoed feet into the mulch, looking very downcast. Perhaps she wasn't a normal kid 'cause she couldn't manage to swing like Lea and Isa did. Which frustrated her. She wanted to be just like her two new friends.

_Braig only laughed and picked her up from underneath her arms, setting her down curtly on the swing's seat. Pacing around behind her, he pulled the chains on either side of her back, taking her with him. Once he deemed them a good distance, he said, "Ready, kiddo?"_

When she nodded, he pushed her forwards, making her swing upwards, but not as high as Lea and Isa. He didn't want to scare her with a sudden height change. As she reared back again, he gave her another light push on her back, keeping her aloft. "Now, if you draw your legs in and out while you're going back and forth, you can keep going by yourself," he explained. "Though, it does take a bit of practice."

Braig watched on in satisfaction as Miya giggled happily on the swing, slowly but surely getting the hang of the contraption that her friends had mastered. The man chuckled at her enthusiasm, the little tike was so determined to find connection's with these two boys. And he had to admit, her persistence was very admirable for a child of six years. Lea and Isa were very accommodating of her very hyper and eager attitude, in fact they seemed to feed off of it. Having the younger girl stare at them in awe constantly as they moved from the swings and over to the actual structure of the pretty awesome playground.

He found it amusing that the playground look very much like the King's castle. Braig thought that something exotic like a pirate ship or beach theme playground would have been way cooler than something the kids saw every day. The huge castle loomed up into the sky so high it was almost imposing. If it had been a dark hue it might have looked foreboding. Braig watched the three children play for the majority of the day. The boys explaining everything about the playground to their little admirer and they played out some type of story that involved an evil monster that liked to eat kids. Though in the end they were all triumphant, though Isa had been the unfortunate individual that got eaten... and somehow resurrected. Braig had found it amusing to watch and listen to none the less, and figured he'd be having these types of matinee shows often in the future.

As the sun began to wane and drift closer to the horizon Braig figured it would be best for him and his charge to head back to the Castle. Miya was looking very tired and the boys too seemed to have run out of steam. He walked over to where they all sat, talking and staring at the sky.

"Hey kiddo's, I say it's time for us all to head on home, I'm totally beat and you three don't look so hot either." The trio looked up at him with tired eyes and they chuckled.

Miya stood up and beamed. "How are you tired, Braig? You just sat and watched us."

"Hey, hey! Don't knock my job, Miya. It really is tough work watching you kiddies wear yourselves out! Makes me tired just watching ya," he said ruffling her hair. She winced under his hand, laying her hands on her hair to straighten it out when he'd removed it.

_The two other boys got to their feet and yawned, stretching, and murmuring their compliance. With a few trudges they came to stand near Braig and Miya, eyes heavy-lidded with weariness. Lea suddenly lifted his head curiously and asked to both Miya and Braig, "Hey, can we play with Miya again tomorrow?" Isa found the question worth staring for and both children looked anxiously and hopefully at the princess and her guard. Never before had they had so much fun in one day, and it was nice forgetting the troubles of their trying living-style for such an extended amount of time._

Braig seemed to contemplate this question carefully, looking down at Miya, who was nodding vigorously. He glanced back at the castle, as if Ansem's opinion would be there in some sort of sign. "I'm sure there won't be a problem with her coming again, I can't see the King opposing it. If there is some reason we can't, I'll let you two know, alright?"

That seemed to sound like a "yes" to them, and they all squealed in delight. Miya went and hugged her two friends excitedly. As they did so, Braig huffed with amusement at their antics. A sudden thought crossed over to him and he said to the boys, "You want us to walk you back home?"

Lea and Isa unwound from their group hug and looked to Miya, saying, "Okay, sure." Of course, they all knew that answer would be yes. That meant more time with Miya, even if it was but for a little longer.

The guard nodded and said, "Well, let's get moving. I think Ansem wants this little one home before it gets dark." He poked Miya's shoulder before herding the kids back towards the outskirts of the town back to the boy's house. Throughout the walk, the children had talked, dashed around, and chased each other to milk out the last of their time and energy. By the time they actually reached the little house, Miya was dragging her feet. The boys turned back as they started running to their porch, waving. "Bye, Miya!"

"See you tomorrow!" Isa added.

Miya waved and said goodbye back, continuing to bid farewell until their door shut. As soon as the door clicked, she slumped in exhaustion. Braig grinned at the little one. "You want me to carry you back? You look like you're about to fall asleep on your feet."

The little girl turned head up to look at Braig, blinking up at him like a tired little owlet. She nodded her head ever so slowly. "Uh-huh... Yes, please." Miya said, lifting her arms up towards him.

Her guardian chuckled lightly and picked her up, and she immediately melted into his arms, head slumping onto his shoulder. Those little brown doe-eyes were closed less than two minutes of him walking back to castle.

"Yeesh, kid, you party hard and crash even harder," he chuckled and patted her back, shifting Miya in his arms more comfortably.

On the way back to the Castle he realized something, something that Master Xehanort would not be ecstatic to know, and would probably chastise him for it. But it had happened so quickly, and had been so unforeseen. But perhaps that was the charm of the little princess he held in his arms. Miya had no reason to not trust him, he had the perfect front, and it was actually barely a front really. Braig found that he was completely himself around the King and his daughter. He couldn't say if it was a bad thing, but it was almost nice to know that he was indeed soft. The little princess had successfully taken a hold of his heartstrings and had wrapped them around her finger... tightly.

The man sighed and shook his head, looking down at the small head of violet hair in his arms. Truly this kid was something special, even if it was just her cuteness level. As he reached the castle gates he stopped and stared at the castle for a moment or two before heading into the massive abode. Now he had to find Ansem and deliver his very tired daughter to him.

But in all honesty, Braig had no idea where to find the King of Radiant Gardens.

_He made his way up the middle path of terraces that led to the castle, furrowing his brow in thought as he wondered where he could find the king. More than likely he'd be inside, but… Braig looked upwards at the looming towers that hung over his head, imposing upon his hope and crushing it to little pieces. It would take forever to search the place out ground to top. Perhaps he could ask around…?_

Looking about, he saw that there was literally no one around. "Duh, it's late, they all probably went home…" Grumbling to himself, he pushed open a little, waist-high black gate that marked the exposure of the last plane, which went directly to the large, front door of the castle.

And it came to Braig's most utter relief when he saw the King standing right outside it, waiting for him. Braig came up with a grin, saying, "Hey, your Majesty, I think I found something that belongs to you." He hefted the tuckered out Miya a little, wondering if she was completely passed out yet.

Miya grumbled as she was shifted in her guardian's arms, not liking that at all and lifted her head up tiredly. Looking around her surroundings with a tired expression; this was until they fell onto the figure of her father who had just walked up to Braig. Her face lit up and a burst of energy brought her back to life.

She jumped out of Braig's arms and into those of her fathers, hugging him and talking at a very fast and incoherent speed about what had happened to her.

"Whoa, whoa, Miya! Calm down, my dear!" Ansem said with a full hearted laugh, shifting her more comfortably in his arms. "I can't understand you when you are talking Hypernese, Miya."

The little girl gave an indignant huff, wiping her bangs from her eyes as she began again in a calm collected manner, but still very hyper. At least it was understandable in Ansem's opinion.

"Papa, you won't be able to guess what happened today! I got to see the _big_ fountain with all the pretty floating flowers and the rainbows! And then Lea and Isa took me to the playground! I've never been to a playground before Papa! It's so _cool_! Someday I have to take you there, so you can see it! I learned how to swing, what slides were for and that I don't like monkey bars, but I do like the rings, which are kinda like monkey bars but not!"

Ansem laughed again at her intense description of her day, patting her on the head and then placing his index finger across her mouth to let her know to be silent, before turning to Braig.

"So, I presume she behaved well for her second time outside of the castle walls? She didn't cause you too much difficulty, and got along with those boys well?" he inquired of his Captain.

_Braig nodded, looking pleased himself. "Yeah, she did real well. She's an angel, doesn't cause trouble at all." There hadn't been one scuffle he had to intervene, actually. Those three got along wonderfully. "Even those boys were well-behaved, despite not having authority. Speaking of which, I gave their landlord that letter, and he's complying with it, begrudgingly." Ansem didn't seem shocked by this news in the slightest and only pursed his mouth slightly with a light bob of his head in response. Braig wondered if he had missed anything... Oh!_

"Those two were wondering if Miya could play with them tomorrow as well," he said, looking to the little princess.

Miya beamed and nodded her head, turning her big brown eyes to her father's face. "Oh, please, Papa! Please, say yes! Playing with Lea and Isa was so much fun! Oh please, oh please, oh please!"

Ansem chuckled and kissed his daughter's forehead, brushing her cheek with the thumb of his free hand. "Why of course, Dear One. You may play with those delightful boys every day if you so wish. Of course it will be like today: Braig will accompany and supervise you children. Braig has nothing but good words to say about your behavior, so as long as it stays that way you are free to play with them every day," the King said with a finalizing nod.

Miya squealed with joy, very pleased and excited by her father's approval. Content and happy she rested her head against her father's chest and looked at Braig with sleepy eyes.

"Braig has to go now?" she asked quietly, looking up at the sky that had begun to turn red with the sunset. Ansem nodded and extended his hand to Braig. "Once again I thank you, your work today and in the future will be much appreciated."

_He grinned, shaking the King's hand firmly. "It's my pleasure, Your Majesty!"_

After saying goodbye to Miya once more and again, giving his regards to the king, Braig turned heel and ended his first day of (enjoyable) work. It hadn't been what he had expected, and that was for the best. The King was pretty laid-back about stuff, something he hadn't really expected, and watching the little tikes was a breeze. He actually wasn't dreading the next however long he had to do this.

Now that he thought about it, the more difficult part of his day was probably dealing with the people back home. Then again, dealing with the old man was always a pain in the rear, though he had his uses in some areas…

The walk home seemed too take less time than he remembered. Sighing and looking to the house where he knew a mound of problems waited, Braig went and unlocked the door, trudging inside.

_Another spark of blue flickered into her hand before simmering out into a single plume of smoke. Zuga tried again, the flash of light reappearing. It had taken her nearly all day to even get the physical existence of the magic to appear in her hands, after some lecturing from Master Xehanort on technique._

She was now sitting on the floor of the living room, peels and peels of the fruit these people called "oranges" (an oh so creative title based on its color,) laying on the low-table next to her. The fruit itself had a tart smell, and was rough to the taste, but apparently she direly needed to eat these, according to the elder. Something about vitamins and lack of sunlight hurting her skin… She didn't quite remember.

Another swirl of magic appeared into her palm, different than the previous attempts. Whereas those before were mere flashes of brief light, this one was a thin tendril that swirled delicately, like a thread caught in the wind, between her two hands. She held still, still focused on it, determined not to let it evaporate like the others… And it was only a few moments later when she heard the door open, signaling Braig's return. The distraction was enough to make the tendril flicker, but she was able to recapture it with a supportive burst of inner energy.

Braig walked through his door and shut it with a slightly depressed sigh. The idea of having to interact with the Swamp Monster and the Old Man was a bit displeasing when he fully realized the day had caught up to him. He could sympathize with his little charge, and possibly the boys back at their home... all in which were probably taking some form of nap or were out of the rest of the day. He was sure Master Xehanort would have a few words for him; he always did. And Zuga, well she'd probably not be too... eh... wishing for interaction with him. After all she was still a fish out of water in this world.

Braig tiredly acknowledged Zuga sitting in the living room as he passed through, though it was the bright color of orange that shocked him to say anything. "Pfft! Wh-what's all this mess?" he sputtered, looking at her with a tired pout. It hit him that he'd become a bit of a clean freak, though that was normal right? It was his home. And he didn't like it getting messy.

_ She quirked her brow up at him as he looked around, his expression highly amusing, though her own remained serious. The thin string of magic faded from between her fingers. Zuga reclined, giving him a blunt stare. "I believe you refer to them as 'orange peels'," she said. Why he was so irked, she had no idea. It wasn't like she had intended to leave the peels sitting there forever... It was just that magic was her foremost problem, and she was instructed to practice diligently. The peels could wait, even if they did make the room smell tangy. Besides, they weren't even on the floor, just on that little table. "Master gave me a bunch and told me to eat them while I was practicing." To demonstrate, she lifted her hands and recreated the sparks of blue once more, averting her eyes from him. _

Braig quirked his brow at her, watching the sparks of magic form in her hands. He had to admit he was impressed by her answer all together, along with her magic skill thus far. Zuga was obviously a person who took things literally, which he understood. It just amused him that she was answering his question in that fashion.

He sat down in a chair not too far from her and watched her create the physical form of magic in the palm of her hand. Thinking back to his earlier years with magic it had taken him about a month to be able to do what she was. And it had only been one day for her. He could see why Master Xehanort was intrigued with her.

"Ah, so I see. Well, good job, kiddo. When you're done practicing just make sure you pick up those peels. Don't want to leave them laying around. If Master Xehanort see's them he won't be too happy," he said with a nod of his head, standing from his chair and readying to leave the living room.

It was about time he hunted his newspaper down and relaxed, best to do that before the old man realized he was home.

_ Zuga tried to ignore the pair of eyes on her as she was manipulating her magic. It had been pressure enough when Master Xehanort had been doing so, which is why she believed he had left her be on her own for as long as he had to train. Her sparks came back into her hand, but she couldn't get the thread to appear again like before. Braig must've taken a hint to her unease or found a reason to leave, as he soon got up and began to walk away. _

"Ah, so I see. Well, good job, kiddo. When you're done practicing just make sure you pick up those peels. Don't want to leave them laying around. If Master Xehanort see's them he won't be too happy,"

_ Her head perked up, and the magic flared a little before simmering out again, much to her chagrin. Kiddo... She glared at his retreating back before growling in her rumbly voice, "I'm not a kid." _

Braig waved his hand over his shoulder at her, nodding his head. "Yeah sure, whatever Swamp Monster." He chuckled and dashed up the stairs to his study, grabbing the paper on the nea by table and flopping down on the couch. He kicked his boots off, slid his scarf off and unbuttoned his uniform before opening the paper up and beginning to read its printed letters.

_It wasn't more than a few minutes later when the hallway creaked and a hunched Master Xehanort appeared in the doorway, peering at Braig intently. He cleared his throat to catch the young man's attention though Braig's eyes were still peeled on his newspaper despite the effort. Scowling at the distraction, the magician waved his hand, the paper vanishing. Braig made a questionable noise, glaring at his empty hands before looking to his master in a huff, who held said newspaper under his arm._

"Now that I have your full attention," he began, "how did today go?"

Braig turned his head and scowled at the old man, looking longingly at his captured newspaper. He huffed and turned his attention back to his master and shrugged.

"Today went well. I just watched the three kiddies, nothing to straining or demanding. Not that I'm complaining anything... but I'm just a day long babysitter... kind of like a nanny... just... I'm a guy and not a woman." Braig sat up and faced his master now.

"Why do you ask? It's as if your awaiting some type of specific answer... It's kinda... odd. Like you're expecting something to happen," he said quirking his brow. "Anything I should be looking out for, sir?"

_'Caught on to that did he?' Master Xehanort observed mentally, quirking a brow, mildly impressed by his apprentice's insightfulness. Perhaps he wasn't as brain-dead as he originally thought. He only smirked, slight disappointment welling up inside of him to the lack of… events. He had been hoping for at least something unusual to happen, even the tiniest bit. But, perhaps his long-term work just needed more time. "Hmph," he grunted. "As I said, that little one is odd. Magically odd. I'm just getting the vibe that something is going to happen. You know how my intuition is."_

Before Braig could inquire further, he cut away from the topic, unfurling the newspaper and tossing it back to him; a reward for Braig, and a distraction so he wouldn't bother to question about his master's comments. And to get his mind off of it for good: "Did you talk to Zuga at all? I can barely get a sentence out of her, and her being comfortable around people is imperative for the role I need her to play."

Braig hugged his newspaper gleefully, happy to have his reading material back. That was the only thing Braig liked reading, 'cause he disliked books with a passion. Having been stuck with his Master in a room full of books in his younger years had left him with a grudge against the tombs.

He yawned and nodded his head "Yeah, yeah... I talked to her. Watched her do some magic stuff for a little bit too. Told her about how she shouldn't leave her orange peels out and such... Yeah, I talked to the Swamp Monster."

_"Did she respond at all, and what did she say? I know very well that you can talk to air, Braig, and be fine with not getting an answer," Master Xehanort sighed. It was true though, that throughout the day, the barbarian had said little to nothing other than mumbled acknowledgments to orders and instructions with the rare "Yes, Sir," and "No, Sir." How Braig had been able to hold a conversation with her baffled the old man, and he couldn't see it, nor figure out a method to his student's madness._

It seemed Zuga was either unsure about how to talk to him, or was just more comfortable talking to someone closer to her age. Speaking of which, he had no idea how old she was, exactly. To think about it, he didn't really know much about her at all, personally, other than a little bit of her family history and what he had been told by others in her tribe, and most of the things they had to say were negative insults. The only compliment he had heard was from her own chief, who said that she was "committed and hard-working." It had been the trait he had wanted to hear, so he had taken her under his wing. She was much brighter than her tribemates anyway, and very eager to learn.

But whenever he had tried asking her questions about her, or her world, she'd either shrug, or bite her tongue, looking hurt, or just gave the simple yes, no, and maybe-like answers, never a full, complete sentence. Perhaps Braig would be more successful in gleaning out her perks and quirks. He had done a fine job getting her to even talk in the first place yesterday.

Braig sat back down on his couch and reclined back, shaking the printed paper out in front of him. His face was hidden behind its curtain of black print and paper.

"She said things, held a simple conversation, retorted indignantly at me calling her 'kiddo', declaring she wasn't a kid, took me literally when I asked her what the mess was and defined it as orange peels... She has quite an amusing way of expressing herself Master. She's quite willing to converse if it's at the level which she can feel comfortable in and converse back."

Braig's tone was far different from the tone he'd used moments ago; it was his serious side, something that his master didn't see often, but there were glimmers of it every now and then. Braig was an intelligent man, but one of his greatest strengths was acting in a way that made people underestimate him. He was always one who liked to be the surprise, the guy you thought was the underdog but actually isn't.

That was Braig, and he was sure proud of it.

_The master quirked a brow, staring at his apprentice through his veil of monochromatic paper. "All of that in the last few minutes? You've gotten her to say more than I have all day! And you've only been home for a little bit." Zuga did have an interesting way of doing things, but he had to correct one thing, a thing he had observed in Lackluster Swamps: she wasn't expressing herself through her literal outlook… She was just so used to following orders to a tee that when a question was asked, she took it militaristically, and answered it literally. Which was partially a problem, since Zuga didn't seem to have a sense of self importance or seemed to understand she wasn't a soldier anymore, or that she didn't need to follow such conduct here._

He huffed, unable to understand how Braig did it, especially when compared to his wizened master. Must be the socialite side of him. He was always cheery, friendly person through and through. Or perhaps the little girl was very in tune with reading inner intentions, or more negative emotions, therefore avoiding them. That theory didn't please the master.

Braig… Well, looking at Braig, it was easy to see he had not a care in the world, nor any reason to be malicious or have a "negative" side. After all, he was positive, and that in itself was probably the only thing holding out his patience when it came to their plans. And he wasn't overbearing with intelligence, though he had to admit, Braig had his moments of glory, such as now… This would be quite fun to experiment with, this weird balance and interaction.

After contemplating a bit, the old man had his idea. "Braig, I want you to talk to her again," he said, explaining, "this time, personally. I need to know what makes this girl tick so I can relate with her, and see where's she's coming from so it's easier for me to teach her. Simple things, like age, hobbies, goals, anything that will let us get to know her better." Braig had suddenly pulled his newspaper down to stare at Master Xehanort doubtfully and skeptically. He got the message and added with a sigh, "Perhaps not today, but in the very near future. I'd do it myself, but you're having much more success than I am."

Relief washed over Braig when his master caught the unspoken message in his face. Master Xehanort always picked up on his very expressive expressions, and generally it kept him from getting a scolding. After all one could not get in trouble for something if they didn't say it. Well... that was generally the case.

"Alright, I'll do it some morning when I'm teaching her breakfast routines... at least then I'm more awake than when I come home. I guess the fact is true that your brain's more awake when you just get up than later in the day," the man said with a humorous chuckle and lifted his paper up again.

"So, I take she's a tough nut for you to crack, Master? Do you have any inclination as to why, or are you just losing your touch with the younger generation?" Once again there was that jesting, sarcastic tone.

_ There came a snort of contempt from the old man as he took in the affront. Huffing, he defended coolly, "No, I believe she's just intimidated. I'm more wizened than the both of you combined and it's very obvious that I run things around here, and she's seen what I can do with my magic. I think she's just afraid to speak and say the wrong thing. It has to do with the psychology of dominance and social class. She's more open with you because she doesn't find you a threat of any kind to her." It had meant to jab at the younger's ego, in retribution for his previous comment. _

Braig snorted with an edge of distaste, mumbling under his breath and shaking the newspaper out. He turned his attention back to his Master, speaking up. "Touché. But you know what? That can be a good thing. It goes to show that I can be deceptive..." he chuckled a bit on the darker edge, "You trained me well, Master. I'm a lean, mean, fighting machine with a soft, deceiving side. That is why she can talk to me. 'Cause I'm just that good."

_Master Xehanort was amused by his student's claim and retorted with a smirk for the sake of having the last word, "More so you're a soft guy with a deceiving tough-guy act. You're as harmless as a kitten, regardless of your skill, Braig. It's not your nature to wreak havoc… intentionally." He chuckled, knowing that'd hit him hard. Before Braig could snap back he said, turning, "Well, enjoy the rest of your evening." And then the old man departed back to his quarters with a smug air around him.  
_

That had hit the youth hard, and that was a below the belt shot too. Braig felt his ego suddenly deflate. He huffed, scowled, and pouted for a minute before shaking his paper out and lifting it back up to read it. Grumbling under his breath, he said, mostly to himself, "Oh, I'll enjoy my evening... and I'll enjoy the morning more when I wake you a big pale of water falling all over you and getting you all wet." The only reason Braig even dared to say this was because he knew his master was gone and could no longer hear him.

With that said he shook his paper out and read it, enjoying the idea of some alone time with his newspaper.

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_**AN3: Read and Review Please, I love feedback**_


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